NIGHTWISH

Decades

NUCLEAR BLAST Finland’s symphonic metal behemoths take stock

Two decades and three frontwomen in, Nightwish’s latest and most visceral ‘best of’ has a lot of ground to cover, so dedicating the first 24 minutes to The Greatest Show On Earth does seem like a self-indulgent use of precious minutes. Yet it does illustrate how far the greatest symphonic band on Middle-Earth have come. Working in a reverse chronological order, this epic fest of grandiose, orchestra-laden thrills and spills highlights the superlative power of Nightwish, from the drum-machine smasher Wish I Had An Angel and the

heroic Ghost Love Score to the

gothic masterpiece The Poet And

The Pendulum. It’s a shame that their anaemic eponymous demo closes the compilation when a tour de force like the omitted The Phantom Of The Opera would provide the ideal final punch, but otherwise Decades is a pitchperfect portfolio of worldclass symphonic metal. FOR FANS OF: EPICA, SONATA ARCTICA, DANNY ELFMAN