Nightwish Hietala hails Jansen for her work ethic

Nightwish bassist and vocalist Marco Hietala has hailed Floor Jansen’s work ethic after she became the first frontwoman to attend studio sessions from the day they began.

The band, who released a promo for track Elan this month, are poised to release eighth album Endless Forms Most Beautiful – their first with Jansen at the helm, and with Troy Donockley as a full-time band member.

Hietala tells FaceCulture: “When we got together for the rehearsals, she was the first vocalist to come in on day one and start doing her stuff. It gave us a better view of the songs.

“You head the structures, the vocals, the lyrics and all that, and you can start going through them and what kind of punch they have, and have them play according to those dynamics.

“I could also start working on all kinds of harmony parts. We nailed down a lot that way. That was really a good thing.”

Jansen last week said she’d had no problems with not writing songs for Endless Forms, but added that she’d been able to offer creative contributions in other ways.

Hietala says: “A lot of people have this vision about Tuomas Holopainen, that he’s the dictator on top of this pyramid. But he’s really open-minded. We had a lot of ideas flying around all the time that we were rehearsing, and they could come from anybody. We tried out a lot of things and we ended up with the things we liked most.”

Endless Forms Most Beautiful is released on March 30 via Nuclear Blast. It was recorded without drummer Jukka Nevalainen, who’s been sidelined with health issues and may not return for years – if at all.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful tracklist

Shudder Before The Beautiful 2. Weak Fantasy 3. Elan 4. Yours Is An Empty Hope 5. Our Decades In The Sun 6. My Walden 7. Endless Forms Most Beautiful 8. Edema Ruth 9. Alpenglow 10. The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula 11. The Greatest Show On Earth

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.