Album Review: NIGHTWISH Yesterwynde

Given that they’ve been around for nearly three full decades, it’d be fair to expect Finnish symphonic metal troupe Nightwish to slow down or lose steam as the years pass by. While they’ve certainly had some shaky moments in their catalog and in their personal history, they’ve rightfully remained one of the top acts in their field. Yesterwynde – which follows 2020’s Human. :II: Nature. – absolutely keeps that momentum going. Regardless of how familiar it may seem to longtime fans, the band’s 10^th studio album is undoubtedly another alluring journey into Nightwish’s world.

Yesterwynde marks the official introduction of bassist Jukka Koskinen (who replaced Marko Hietala), and according to band leader Tuomas Holopainen, it’s the final chapter in a trilogy that includes 2015’s Endless Forms Most Beautiful and Human. :II: Nature. He also describes it as “a fantastical voyage through time, memory, and the better angels of human nature,” and he recently told Kerrang! that the title is “a made-up word” that attempts to capture the feeling of “memories going black and white, [and] sepia.”

From start to finish, the LP invigoratingly evokes luscious pastoral yearning and operatic intensity and complexity, effectively capturing the multifaceted sensations of which Holopainen speaks.

The gorgeous title track kicks things off with mournful singing, elegant harmonies, ethereal chants, and gentle playing (including acoustic guitar arpeggios, woodwinds, strings, and bells). Consequently, it sets the stage for the numerous other magnificently rustic ballads and odes, such as the even more Renaissance-esque operatic majesty of “Sway” (which is surprisingly multifaceted) and the slightly heavier but still generally soothing “Hiraeth” (on which lead singer Floor Jansen and multiinstrumentalist Troy Donockley share vocal duties, to great effect).

Fittingly, the album closes with a bittersweet lamentation (“Lanternlight”), too, that easily ranks as one of Nightwish‘s most affectively decorated and sung songs in quite some time. Plus, its stylistic similarities to the title track give Yesterwynde a sense of conceptual/tonal unity as well.

Of course, Nightwish are a symphonic metal band first and foremost, and as is often the case, it’s the record’s heaviest, densest, and trickiest pieces that leave the biggest impact. Namely, the relentlessly orchestral and feisty “An Ocean of Strange Islands” is a full-throttle ride that still manages to incorporate some dreamy instrumental breaks to add emotional heft and demonstrate how inventive the group can still be.

Likewise, ‘The Day Of…” comments on fearmongering with straightforward yet compelling hooks and arrangements that’re complemented hauntingly by a children’s choir, whereas “Something Whispered Follow Me” is particularly epic and moving thanks to Jansen‘s forlorn bellows and guitarist Emppu Vuorinen‘s piercing riffs and measured solo.

Yesterwynde doesn’t rewrite Nightwish‘s rulebook, and your opinion of it will probably certainly match how you feel about its immediate predecessors. That said, it’s clear that the sextet continues to be a top-tier act, as they’re still able to infuse their recognizable recipe with more than enough enthralling melodies, production techniques, and musicianship to achieve style and substance. In other words, Nightwish remain immeasurably passionate and capable, and Yesterwynde almost surely provides exactly what you’re looking for.