NIGHTWISH's TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN Records Demo Of 12 Songs For Next Album

NIGHTWISH keyboardist/mainman Tuomas Holopainen has spent the last two and half weeks in Hattula, Finland with the band's producer/crew member Tero "TeeCee" Kinnunen recording a demo of the songs that will appear on NIGHTWISH's next studio album. Tuomas writes on his official web site: "It has come together beautifully and we now have a total of 12 songs to work with.

"We are all very eager to finally get together and start the rehearsals in July.

"If everything goes as scheduled, we should have the ready album in our hands by the end of January 2015."

He adds: "It's still too early to analyze the material more closely, but the album will once again explore all the ends of the spectrum, bringing the very best out of the newcomers [Dutch singer] Floor [Jansen, vocals] and [English composer and multi-instrumentalist] Troy [Donockley; uilleann pipes, low whistles, vocals]. And stealthily the album ended up having a theme running through it."

Asked in a recent interview with Sweden's Metalshrine what Floor Jansen will bring to the next NIGHTWISH album, Tuomas said: "She [will] bring a lot of interpretations, some arrangements and positive energy for sure, but she [will] not [be] included in the songwriting process. She told me that the first time around, she has [her side project] REVAMP and Marco [Hietala, bass/vocals] and I will do just fine for now."

Speaking to Germany's EMP Rock Invasion at the end of last year, Floor stated about the songwriting process for the next NIGHTWISH album: "I think it's more like it's always been. So Tuomas is gonna start writing. And how it's gonna evolve later on, we'll see. But I don't feel the necessity of me being an active songwriting member, because the music is so good. It's about the songs and the music that goes first and not about my ego wanting to join like that. But if I can participate or add something with my creative input, of course I would love that. Of course, I have creative energy in me that needs to come out one way or another, but that's where REVAMP comes in."

Regarding whether she has any fears that, due to the band's troubled history with lead vocalists, her time with NIGHTWISH will not last very long, Floor told Finland's Radio Rock: "No. And whether this is in NIGHTWISH or in anything with anyone in everyone's lives, what guarantees do you have? So it's just about what you make of it and with the chemistry that you believe in. And I believe in the chemistry that we have today, 'cause it's been very strong since the beginning and grew to be better throughout the months. It's still a very recent thing. But what feels good now, that's where you should go from, and that's what I do."

NIGHTWISH released a new DVD, "Showtime, Storytime", on November 29 as a limited 2Blu-ray + 2CD digipack, limited 2DVD + 2CD digipack, limited 2CD digipack, 2LP (colored) in gatefold and an exclusive Nuclear Blast mailorder edition. The set NIGHTWISH's entire August 3, 2013 performance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany. The show, which was played in the front of 85,000 screaming metalheads, was directed by Ville Lipiäinen, filmed with seventeen cameras and has a total running time of 85 minutes. The second disc consists of a 120-minute tour documentary, "Please Learn The Setlist In 48 Hours", also directed by Ville Lipiäinen. In addition, there are two music clips: "I Want My Tears Back" (live at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland) and "Ghost Love Score" (live in Buenos Aires).

The Wacken Open Air appearance was the first of the three final shows of NIGHTWISH's "Imaginaerum World Tour", which saw the band and their Jansen playing 104 concerts in 34 different countries, with a total audience of over 1.5 million fans around the globe.

Jansen made her live debut as the frontwoman of NIGHTWISH on October 1, 2012 at Showbox Sodo in Seattle, Washington following the abrupt departure of the band's lead singer of five years, Anette Olzon.

Tuomas Holopainen has known Jansen for more than 10 years already, having previously toured with her former band, AFTER FOREVER.