Just how metal is Nightwish's Floor Jansen?

A picture of Nightwish's Floor Jansen doing the horn sign on stage at Download
(Image credit: Getty Images)

WHAT’S THE MOST ILLEGAL THING YOU’VE EVER DONE?

“Well if I wasn’t Dutch I’d say smoke pot, but I am, so… ha ha ha! I’m really not very ‘illegal’. I’ve not even got a speeding ticket. But that’s because you have to be strategic about where to speed, and I do really like driving so far. Maybe I’ve been lucky so far. I’m probably a bit of a road devil.”

WHAT’S THE MOST METAL ALBUM YOU OWN?

“Jeez. I dunno. I mean, I mainly listen to metal, so they are all metal albums! But the most metal? The cool thing about metal is that it’s so extremely diverse. Some would say Slayer, but I think they’re a dreadful band. Unbelievably boring. Terrible. Apparently it’s not metal to say that, but it’s a personal opinion! But, for my most metal album, I’m a total fan of Soilwork. Natural Born Chaos! They’re great!”

WHAT’S THE WORST INJURY YOU’VE EVER HAD?

“I’ve had two severe concussions in my lifetime. The first concussion, I fainted and fell on my head. The second time, I flew off a horse. When that happened, I was on holiday with my parents as a young teenager, about 13 years old. I’m very tall, and the owner of the stable thought I was older than I actually was, and put me on a wilder horse. I fell off and hit my head and got a concussion, and for some reason, because it was [an injury on] my head, they put me on a psych ward. I had to share a room with a crazy alcoholic woman who they’d tied to the bed. She was wearing a diaper and screaming for her husband all day long. It wasn’t nice!”

WHAT’S THE MOST YOU’VE EVER BEEN SICK?

“Oy, I don’t know. But I can tell you, as a Dutch person, when you join a Finnish band and start drinking with them, that’s when it goes wrong. So when I’ve tried to keep up with the Nightwish guys, that’s when there’s been sick!”

WHAT’S THE GROSSEST THING YOU’VE EVER HAD IN YOUR MOUTH?

“Snails. Before I went vegetarian, I used to want to try everything. So I’ve had snails, and I’ve also had stomach soup, where they put pieces of stomach in there. That was in Spain, but I think snails are the most disgusting thing I’ve had.”

WHAT’S THE WORST FIGHT YOU’VE EVER BEEN IN?

“I’ve never physically fought, ever. Maybe because I’m a girl, or maybe because I’m so tall nobody would ever take me on, you know? Ha ha! But no, I’ve never been in a fistfight. It’s not very metal – though I think in the UK it’s different…”

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU BLED?

“Just a week ago, working in my garden. I was taking out some wild bushes, which sometimes takes some brutal force, so you end up cutting yourself. Ha ha ha!”

WHAT’S THE RAREST PIECE OF MERCHANDISE YOU OWN?

“I’ve never been a collector! I don’t have anything like that.”

WHAT’S YOUR MOST PAINFUL TATTOO OR PIERCING?

“I recently got my ankle and foot done, and that was excruciating. It was right over the bone – it starts on one side and goes right around, it continues all over my foot. There’s a lot of shading, and I really underestimated how much it would hurt. I have much bigger tattoos on my arms, so I didn’t think this would be too bad, but holy cow.”

SHOW US THE MOST METAL PICTURE ON YOUR PHONE..

“It’d be me! I have quite an expressive face, so it’s be one of those, ‘Arghhhhh!’ kind of looks.”

Final score: 410

Oh dear. Her asylum story takes some beating and eating stomach soup is brutal, but cussing out Slayer?! That takes guts, but we can’t be having it. Sorry, Floor.

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Merlin Alderslade
Executive Editor, Louder

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.