Despite the news that lead singer Anette Olzon was working on a side project earlier this year, Nightwish have revealed they are in the process of preparing for their forthcoming album.

According to a press release that was issued earlier this week, Nightwish are in “the deepest countryside of Finland” developing material for their new studio album, which they intend to record on in mid October for a late 2011 release.

In a recent interview, Nightwish's keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen explained:
“Another week passed by, another week of rehearsing, song-shaping, sweating, boating and fishing. The happiest event, naturally, was Anette [Olzon, Nightwish singer] having a baby and feeling fantastic with the newborn!  Songs #9 and #10 took shape last weekend. The #9 one explores Zimmer territories shamelessly with the chorus taking us back to our roots. Emppu’s [Vuorinen, guitar] favorite part of the whole album, I reckon.”
“Last song we put together will be the last one on the album, an insanely ambitious piece. I assume it will be close to 20 minutes long. Uncle Walt’s [Disney] spirit is already haunting in every note of this song. Still needs some arranging, though.  We have only one song left to practice after the monster song, an acoustic piece in the vein of ‘The Islander’. Ennio Morricone meets Christy Moore”“I deeply enjoy this process of building the songs slowly together, weaving stories out of thin air, and it’s almost always the vocals that finally wake the songs up.  It’s about three weeks before we start recording the demo so now we have time to put final touches into the songs and perfect them the best we can. It’s fantastic not to be in any hurry for a change!”

I have always appreciated Nightwish.  From what Tuomas is saying, the forthcoming album sounds like it will be just as good, if not better, as their previous work.  I am also impressed with the effort Nightwish are putting into developing their new album, and expect the completed CD will have a polished finish.  But why does “Late 2011” sound so far away?

Peter Allison and the rest of Dominion would also like to add our sincere congratulations to Anette Olzon on the birth of her baby boy, Johans .  We wish both mother and son all the very best.