TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN Has 'Written About 80 Or 90 Percent Of The Material' For Next NIGHTWISH Album

Earlier this month, NIGHTWISH keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen took part in a question-and-answer session at the Kitee International Music And Art Festival in Kitee, Finland. You can now watch the discussion below.

Asked about the progress of the songwriting sessions for NIGHTWISH's follow-up to 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" record, Tuomas said: "The next album is well on its way. I've written about 80 or 90 percent of the material so far. All floodgates opened last October when we finished with the AURI project [in which he is joined by his wife, popular Finnish singer Johanna Kurkela, and NIGHTWISH multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley], and I was listening to the album and just something clicked in my head. And I've been really excited about writing songs ever since. And just last night I got another song finished. So it's gonna be 10, 11 songs, most likely. And we're gonna start recording next summer, in July, so if everything goes as planned, we're looking at a spring 2020 release."

According to Tuomas, the next NIGHTWISH album will be rehearsed, arranged and recorded at "the traditional NIGHTWISH summer camp" in Kitee, with the exception of the drum recordings, which will take place elsewhere. "And [then we will go] back to London for some orchestra and some choirs and then we're gonna mix it at Finnvox [studios in Helsinki]," he said.

Holopainen addd that he had a "strong hunch" that the orchestral elements on NIGHTWISH's next album will be used "in quite a different way than before. I just personaly feel that we took it to the maximum on the previous album, but it's such an essential part of the band and the sound of it that we don't want to get rid of the orchestra, I think, ever," he said. "But you wanna search for some new ways of using it so that it doesn't end up sounding the same as before. And we have some good ideas for that."

Tuomas also revealed that there is a lyrical theme tying together all the songs he has written for NIGHTWISH's next record, but he declined to elaborate, saying: "No other bandmembers have heard anything. We've had some discussions over the things and some of the songs, but it's in such an early stage, and I'm still working at home on my own, so… let's keep it a mystery a while longer."

Holopainen went on to say that NIGHTWISH will professionally film and record one of the shows on the group's current tour in support of its recently released "Decades" compilation for a possible DVD release. He explained: "The majority of these songs that we are doing on this tour are never gonna be played again, I think, so it's a good idea to immortalize them."

NIGHTWISH's next album will mark the band's second full-length release with singer Floor Jansen, who has been touring with the group since 2012.

"Decades" was released on March 9.