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Album Review: Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful

Brendan Crabb
StarStarStarHalf Star

"Singer Floor Jansen makes a confident debut, and Troy Donockley curiously affords an enhanced Celtic edge."

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Nightwish do nothing by half-measures. While countless female-fronted metal acts play it safe, the Finns are prepared to be truly ludicrous.

They’ve taken that symphonic prog-power bombast to new heights via five-chapter, 24-minute closer The Greatest Show On Earth, detailing “the complete evolution” of existence and incorporating, amongst other elements, a Richard Dawkins spoken word appearance. The bloated run time could have been trimmed, and some forgettable riffs detract. Singer Floor Jansen makes a confident debut though, and Troy Donockley (uilleann pipes/low whistles/vocals) curiously affords an enhanced Celtic edge. Nightwish in all their grandiosity – for better and worse.