NIGHTWISH Mainman Issues Update On 'Imaginaerum The Movie'

November 11, 2011

Keyboardist/mainman Tuomas Holopainen of Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH has issued the following update:

"It's Wednesday the 9th of November and the first single of [the new NIGHTWISH album] 'Imaginaerum' called 'Storytime' is finally out today. It's part one of a very long homecoming, four years in the making. Makes me feel a bit sad, fairly relieved and ultimately proud. Sad that a certain journey is finally coming to an end, relieved that everything worked out beautifully, and proud of the band members' and the fellow imagineers' effort in getting this colossal project together. Thank you.

"I saw the first edits of 'Imaginaerum The Movie' a week ago. Stobe [Harju, director] and Mathieu [Blanger, film editor] have been working with the edits a few weeks now and the parts I saw were very convincing. The demo scores (by the tech wizard Petri Alanko) are working out wonderfully, even though we still need to toy around with them quite a bit. The special-effects guys have also begun their work, so once we get all these layers together some truly mind-blowing movie magic will be born. Basically now we just have to wait patiently and try not to breathe too much into their backs, and let them do their magic.

"In the meanwhile, loads of promo and rehearsals still to be done.

"Such exciting times."

"Imaginaerum" is due in North America on January 10, 2012 via Roadrunner Records. The CD is the band's first since 2007's "Dark Passion Play", which was then-new singer Anette Olzon's debut.

The band examined its catalog when sitting down to write what would become "Imaginaerum". The songs for the album were written between 2008 and 2010, after the "Dark Passion Play" tour cycle ended.

At that point, NIGHTWISH knew they wanted to do something different, new and unique, which is exceptional for a band whose career has been defined by words like different, new and unique!

The band consciously wanted to do something so big, crossover, detailed, innovative and, well, "nuts," that it would leave the band, and hopefully the people experiencing it, completely awestruck. It would be a situation where fans and/or critics would either love it or hate it, but they'd be left awestruck nonetheless. That's when the band realized another dimension, namely video, was necessary for the project.

Instead of a concept album, the band set the album to a film.

"The original idea I had was to film 13 short stories related to the songs with a connected storyline, shot by Stobe Harju," keyboardist/songwriter Tuomas Holopainen said. It was Harju's idea to turn the 13 stories and visions into more of a connected cinematic piece essentially, a film. It would have a clear plot, script, dialogue and real actors in an ambitious effort to create something wholly unique.The film was shot in September of this year.

The movie is based on the album and its 13 tracks, honoring the original ideas, but having evolved radically from the initial plan. Holopainen said, "Still, it was important from the very beginning that the album would work as its own individual piece of art, as well. It is a thematic album about life itself, about imagination, love, goodness and beauty, with a touch of darkness and melancholy, which are strongly included in all of those things mentioned."

The band will have but a small part in the film. A 2012 premiere date is being eyed.

"Imaginaerum" release dates:

Finland: November 30
Europe: December 2
Australia: January 6
North America: January 10
Japan: January 11
New Zealand: January 16

NIGHTWISH will kick off the "Imaginaerum" world tour in Los Angeles. The very first show of the trek will take place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on Saturday, January 21. This will be the biggest NIGHTWISH show production ever on North American soil and strictly a one-off there will be no U.S. tour until later in 2012.

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