Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Nightwish - Oceanborn - reviewed by: Nailer

Track Listing1. Stargazers 2. Gethsemane 3. Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean 4. Sacrament Of Wilderness 5. Passion And The Opera 6. Swanheart 7. Moondance 8. The Riddler 9. The Pharaoh Sails To Orion 10. Walking In The Air 11. Sleeping Sun

Since I like a decent amount of power metal with its higher-pitched, melodic vocalists, a couple of my buddies like to goof and tell me that I listen to "opera metal".

Well, if you take Helloween, Yanni and Charlotte Church and stick them together in a band then you'd have--Nightwish's "Oceanborn".

Instead of your traditional metal delivery, lead singer Tarja, performs like she's got the starring role in Carmina Burana at the Met--real opera singing. I had expected the songs to be slow-tempo and similar to The Gathering's "Mandylion", so I was quite surprised to hear the fast-paced, guitar riffs similar to other European power metal bands. The keyboards are a bit odd in the mix with a new age sound that made me feel like I was listening to a fairy tale in Hell. The production on the disc is excellent with a nice drum sound.

This disc is definately not your standard power metal and given the operatic vocals and new-agey keyboards, I'd have to say that the normal metal listener shouldn't go buying this on a whim. If you're really adventurous and open-minded try and listen to a couple song samples online and see what you think. The band has great reviews online, but I think you have to acquire a taste for this stuff. It didn't work for me.


--Reviewed by Nailer 1.31.03