Review of the Album Wishmaster by Finnish Power Metal Band Nightwish

Wishmaster is not just the third studio album by the band Nightwish. It is also the album that I have wanted to review for some time due to a wish to continue to explore the vast musical depths of the female rock and metal music scene.

"She Is My Sin"

She is My Sin starts this album with a Stratovarius influence to go along with Tarja Turunen’s towering voice. The only other symphonic power metal band from Finland that I know of is Amberian Dawn. This album review is about Tarja Turunen and Nightwish’s 3^rd studio album. It is said that the main stylistic difference between Wishmaster and their previous album Oceanborn is the reliance on the symphonic power metal nature rather than using speed.

Even though Tarja Turunen would later leave Nightwish due to difficulties with the other band members, her power, influence, and contributions cannot be forgotten. Tarja is one of the top vocalists in the heavy metal genre. Even if Wishmaster is the weakest of the band’s first three albums, it is still very good.

The Kinslayer might as well be a song that describes how religion has led to much war and conflict. Can’t we all just get along in this rough world of ours? It seems like the world is a rough, cruel place that will eat us up by the old phrase “count your blessings” really applies here. Wishmaster can also be thought of this way: we are the creators of our own destiny if we wish for something and then take action to achieve that goal. We are in a sense, masters of our wishes if we take action to fulfill those wishes since we don’t have the luxury of summoning a genie to grant us our wishes. The Kinslayer is said to be a song dedicated to the victims of the Columbine High School incident. Unfortunately, some people are possessed by so much evil and hate that they are willing to end other people’s lives for their own purposes.

Wanderlust addresses a basic human need and that is our desire to travel to fulfill those wants or needs. Some people feel like they need to travel to fulfil their sense of seeing the world and others travel to get a temporary escape from their home for a while. The song makes reference to the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, a place where I would love to visit and experience. Wishmaster uses a more balanced vocal approach compared to the band’s first two releases and it sounds like there is much chanting. Bare Grace Misery sounds like a song that the Finnish Gothic Metal Band For My Pain would compose in their short lived career. Crownless is a song that describes a situation that has a monarchy with no real power as the king and queen are left crownless and there are warriors that are fighting with their swords in their attempts to take over the kingdom. Dead Boy’s Poem is atmospheric and slower, featuring a sort of standard English accent as Tarja sings, or rather chants as her voice has that soothing quality along with the power. Wishmaster has a definite fantasy lyrical theme but it is a good power metal release. Is Nightwish the best power metal band in the history of Finland? They are certainly Finland’s most well-known of this genre along with Stratovarius.