NIGHTWISH is a band that needs no introduction to anyone that follows Metal. So why am I writing one? Anyway, NIGHTWISH have been performing Symphonic Metal with female vocals for over a decade, starting way back before it was the fashionable thing to do. Their split with former vocalist Tarja Turunen caused a great deal of controversy and gathered a great deal of free publicity for the band. After a lengthy search, Swedish singer Annette Olzen was named the new front-woman for NIGHTWISH. Their new album, "Dark Passion Play", is available now from Roadrunner.

First of all, how has the tour been?

"Mainly, it has been really, really good, especially when it comes to the people and their reactions towards Anette, the new material and everything; it's been very, very encouraging. Naturally, it's been two years since the last time we were touring, so the routine is a little bit missing, but that's why we're here, to get it back."

What do you think about your shows getting kicked off Disney property?

"Well, I don't know the details, so I don't really want to go too deep into that, but like, on a shallow surface it seems really, really ridiculous because if you think about the image of the band and everything, why are they doing this, like banning Heavy Metal bands? It's the same company who's idolizing pirates in the world today - you know, psychopaths, rapists, murderers, robbers and they're putting Jack Sparrow as every kid's hero nowadays, so talk about hypocrisy."

I understand you're going to be playing with John Two-Hawks in Texas. How was this arranged and what are your expectations for it?

"We have only done one show with him so far, that was in Helsinki two years ago, and it just happens that he's around, you know; he's touring himself, also. He lives in Arkansas, so just we were browsing through the dates when he could be available and he suggested to us San Antonio and Dallas. It's going to be really cool. I mean, you kinda wanna play around, fool around a little bit every now and then to keep the whole thing interesting, you know, a little guest musician here and there always spices up things."

How did you come to working with him in the first place, 'cause I always thought it strange - a Finnish band with a Native American guy singing about Native American things. How was that put together in the first place?

"Well, since I can remember, I've been really interested and fascinated about the Native American Indian culture, their inheritance, their ways of living and the whole genocide that happened throughout the centuries. I think it's one of the biggest shames of mankind. I just wanted to make a little statement with that."

How has the fan reaction been so far, because I know a lot of people were fearing there might be some sort of reception for Annette like what happened when Blaze Bayley joined IRON MAIDEN or when Ripper Owens joined JUDAS PRIEST. How do you think the fan reaction has been so far?

"As expected, it was hugely divided in the beginning, but I really think it's calmed down a bit, but it's been much, much more positive than we would have ever hoped for. I mean, if you think about the reaction from the fans, the reviews of the album, how people are treating us, the sales, the charts - it's going better than ever before and there's got to be a reason for that, so she's been accepted really well. It seems like the fans actually had more in us than the band itself, so a big thanks goes to them as well."

The new album has a lot more folk influences on some of the tracks - tell us a little bit about the thought process that went behind that.

"Yeah, the last four songs of the album, they include a strong Celtic touch. There's uilleann pipes, Celtic fiddles, there's the percussion instrument called bodhran, there's low whistles. This is more or less the result of systematic thinking; you kind of think in advance - what kind of musical elements are there in the world that you haven't used before in the music that you can use. Like little things here and there, because with NIGHTWISH, we feel really blessed that we can do almost anything and it sounds like NIGHTWISH - we are not prisoners of a format in any way. So when I was thinking about the songs for this album in advance, I just thought that, uh, what could I do to spice up the songs a little bit and the first thing that came to mind was Celtic instruments; we haven't used those before, the other one was gospel choir, that's used in two songs and the third one was the boy sopranos."

What was the reason for using more male vocals on this album than any of the prior albums?

"It's just a very natural thing - this was not, like, thought of in advance..."

Marco (Hietala) - "My ego!"

"Yes, his ego! (laughter) He wants to take over the band. (more laughter) No, seriously, I think it came down to the fact of the lyrics on this album - there are so many lyrics that cannot simply be put into an actor's mouth to sing because of the story behind them. We needed to have his voice in those songs. And then there is 'The Islander', which is a song made by him and since he wrote the song, it's kind of natural that he would also tell the story of the song. So that's why." (laughs)

What was the unofficial live debut of the lineup like in Estonia?

"No, what do you mean? I'm sorry."

I read that there was a secret show...

"Yeah, there were three secret shows with three different names and the very first one was in Estonia, in Tallinn, a very, very good one for it being the first show we ever did with the new singer."

(after a pause) Any further thoughts on that?

"No, it was just an easy start. Everybody knew what was going on; we didn't really fool anybody with the little stunt, but it was kind of like an easy beginning, these secret shows."

What are your thoughts on the success of the new album, "Dark Passion Play"?

"Well I already mentioned that it seems, really, that the fans have more faith than the band ever had. I'm not talking about the album in itself; we always had a strong confidence about the material and about the fact that the new singer is out there, the right one, all that. But the success and the fan reaction and the charts and the sales, everything that's been just incredible. And with the whole soap opera thing and everything, we got a lot of free advertising, as well." (laughter)

What are your favorite NIGHTWISH videos that you've shot so far?

"I really go for the 'Amaranth' video - I think it is the best effort we have done so far. But we also shot a third video that should be out, I think, like February or March or something and I have a gut feeling that it will be at least equal."

You're going to be doing another North American tour in the Spring, unfortunately not coming out this way, but what do you have planned for that as far as opening bands and are you going to be playing a different set than on this tour?

"I'm pretty sure the setlist is going to change quite a bit for that tour, but we're still actually searching for a support act and there's a couple we have in mind, but it actually needs to be decided quite soon, within weeks, so we'll know in awhile."

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

"Some milk and sugar for my coffee, ha ha ha." [FIN]