Nightwish Tuomas: Dark Passion Play saved my mental health

Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish (Image credit: Getty)

Nightwish keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen says the Finnish band’s 2007 album Dark Passion Play saved his mental health.

The sixth studio effort saw the symphonic metal group working with new lead singer Anette Olzon following the dismissal of original vocalist Tara Turunen in 2005.

As 10-months of production costs skyrocketed past €800,000 – including a pricey eight-day session at Abbey Road studios in London – the band remained confident in the music while harbouring some concerns over fan reaction to the lineup change and new musical directions that included ballads.

Holopainen exclusivey tells Metal Hammer: “I’m still really, really proud of the results. The whole band was very inspired and we were all really confident about the material. The Poet And The Pendulum, Bye Bye Beautiful and Master Passion Greed were all borne out of the turmoil we’d gone through.

“It would be an exaggeration to say Dark Passion Play saved my life, but it definitely saved my mental health.”

Dark Passion Play delivered a pair of Finnish No. 1 singles – Amaranth and Eramaan Viimeinen – while the record went on to earn quadruple platinum status for sales of more than 130,000 copies in their homeland, where it is one of the top 30 best-selling Finnish albums ever released.

Nightwish continue to tour in support of their eighth album, 2015’s Endless Forms Most Beautiful, with more shows scheduled in the coming months.

The band’s 2011 track Last Ride Of The Day from Imaginaerum will be used by the Australia’s national synchronised swimming team at next month’s Rio 2016 Olympics.

The full interview with Holopainen can be read in issue 286 of Metal Hammer – out on July 19.

Nightwish remaining tour dates 2016

Aug 06: Montreal Heavy Montreal, QC
Aug 20: Jamsa Himos park, Finland
Aug 26: Zyrakow Czad Festival, Poland
Sep 08: Lisbon Coliseu, Poland
Sep 10: Madrid Barclaycard Arena
Sep 14: Sofia Arena Armeec, Bulgaria
Oct 09: Tokyo Loud Park Festival, Japan

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