Nightwish Jukka's health is 'much better'

Nightwish drummer Jukka Nevalainen is doing “much better” but his return to full-time work with the band could still be years off.

A battle with chronic insomnia led him to pull out of recording sessions for Nightwish’s upcoming new album Endless Forms Most Beautiful last year, with his place taken by Wintersun’s Kai Hahto.

According to mainman Tuomas Holopainen, Nevalainen’s health is improving, but there is still no definite timescale for his return, nor is there a guarantee he will come back at all.

Holopainen tells Faceculture: “He’s doing much better. We are in contact all the time, because he still takes care of the band’s business — merchandise, all that. And he’s actually still a member of the band. That’s what it says in the album booklet: ‘Drums by Jukka Nevalainen. Drums on this album performed by Kai Hahto.’

“But he just needs a long breather now. So in two, three years, we’ll know about the future.”

The album, due out on March 30 via Nuclear Blast, is the band’s first with singer Floor Jansen. And Holopainen says the Dutch songstress has breathed new life into the group.

He adds: “She brings a lot of motivation and devotion. The songwriting process didn’t change at all. Of course, I had Floor’s voice in my mind when I was doing those songs. Floor, as a singer, she’s as versatile as it gets, really, so I didn’t have to restrict myself in the songwriting.”

The band recently launched a promo for Elan after the track was leaked online – a move which left the group feeling “violated.”

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 Ruh 9. Alpenglow 10. The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula 11. The Greatest Show On Earth

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.