Nightwish – Endless Forms Most Beautiful {Deluxe} (2015/2018) [AcousticSounds FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz]

Nightwish – Endless Forms Most Beautiful {Deluxe} (2015/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 02:37:52 minutes | 1,79 GB | Genre: Metal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Booklet, Front Cover | © Nuclear Blast

“Endless Forms Most Beautiful” is the eighth album by Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish. The album’s themes primarily inspired by the work of naturalist Charles Darwin. This is the band’s first featuring singer Floor Jansen and the first with Uilleann pipes player, Troy Donockley as a full-time member. It was also the first without drummer Jukka Nevalainen, who took a break from the band due to severe insomnia. Drumming was by Kai Hahto of Wintersun and Swallow the Sun. The album includes only five Nightwish members, despite its being their first album release as a sextet.

The eighth studio long-player from the audacious Finnish symphonic metal outfit, Endless Forms Most Beautiful is also the first Nightwish outing to feature new vocalist Floor Jansen (After Forever, Revamp), who joined the group on the road in 2012 after the mid-tour departure of Anette Olzen. Nightwish has endured numerous lineup changes throughout its nearly 20-year career, but the band’s sound has remained remarkably consistent, due in large part to the stabilizing presence of project founder and chief songwriter Tuomas Holopainen, whose overall vision for the band remains unchanged. Endless Forms Most Beautiful, like most Nightwish outings, is a concept album, though unlike 2011’s narrative-driven Imaginaerum, it’s a loosely conceptual affair that, according to Holopainen, celebrates the “beauty of life, the beauty of existence, nature, science.” The title is taken from Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and the reliably opulent (full choir and live orchestra) inaugural cut, “Shudder Before the Beautiful,” opens appropriately with a spoken word intro from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. It’s a truly majestic piece and an excellent showcase for Jansen, who brings both gravitas and versatility to the table. Whether it’s lilting Celtic folk-rock (“Élan”), Enya-esque fantasy-pop (“The Eyes of Sharbat Gula”), or straight-up, anthemic power metal (“My Walden”), she never overplays her hand, but she also never gets lost in the mix, which is impressive considering the swirling cacophony of sound cooked up by Holopainen and crew. Overall, Endless Forms Most Beautiful succeeds despite its strict adherence to the Nightwish formula. It’s a well-oiled machine firing on all cylinders, both expansive and familiar, and it’s arguably the group’s most immediate-sounding record in years.

Tracklist:
01 – Shudder Before The Beautiful
02 – Weak Fantasy
03 – Elan
04 – Yours Is An Empty Hope
05 – Our Decades In The Sun
06 – My Walden
07 – Endless Forms Most Beautiful
08 – Edema Ruh
09 – Alpenglow
10 – The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula
11 – The Greatest Show On Earth
12 – Shudder Before The Beautiful (Instrumental)
13 – Weak Fantasy (Instrumental)
14 – Elan (Instrumental)
15 – Yours Is An Empty Hope (Instrumental)
16 – Our Decades In The Sun (Instrumental)
17 – My Walden (Instrumental)
18 – Endless Forms Most Beautiful (Instrumental)
19 – Edema Ruh (Instrumental)
20 – Alpenglow (Instrumental)
21 – The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula (Instrumental)
22 – The Greatest Show On Earth (Instrumental)