Nightwish
Century Child

THE REVIEW

"I was born amidst the purple waterfalls.
I was weak, not yet cursed.
Dead to the world. Alive for the journey.
One night I dreamed of a withering white rose,
a newborn drowning the loneliness of a lifetime.
I dreamed all my future. I relived my past.
And I revealed the beauty of the beast."

With these melancholic words opens the most contested, the darkest, the most angry, the heaviest Nightwish album. Many do not like this album because they consider it a decline compared to the cheerful power of Wishmaster. They do not realize how loaded with bitterness and anger this album is, and songs that talk about fantasy or Disney would never have come from Century Child.
This album introduces some novelties: the guitars emerge forcefully, with heavy and distorted sounds, as do the bass lines, with increasingly loud riffs, and Tarja abandons the operatic execution in the tracks.
The opener is the very heavy "Bless The Child", from which I took the quote. It is a song predominantly oriented towards Gothic Metal, and the feelings it conveys are certainly not among the happiest.
The second track is "End Of All Hope" and many easily compare it to Wishmaster. Indeed, the structure is the same (try listening to them one after the other, and you'll see they are practically mirror images), but the characteristics are extremely different: the piece offered in Century Child is heavy, deafening, very aggressive, and here too, the lyrics are certainly not among the happiest. "Dead To The World" is cute and catchy. On this track, Marco Hitala's voice appears for the first time, the new bassist replacing that dud Sami Vanska. "Ever Dream", the first single, is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful songs on the entire album. With the support of the orchestra, performing a majestic and splendid accompaniment, and with the introduction of notes played by a harmonious piano, Tarja manages to interpret this song with great emotion, with positive and hopeful lyrics.
"Slaying The Dreamer" is the most aggressive track on the album. Tarja's voice is harsh and not very melodic, but very effective. Amid increasingly aggressive riffs, the track ends with Marco's rough singing. "Forever Yours" is a sad ballad. In some ways, it may remind you of "Two For Tragedy", but this one is much more inspired. It very much resembles the soundtrack of Titanic.
"Ocean Soul" is a very particular track. It doesn't rise to absolute beauty, but the lyrics, which rely on a simple yet pleasant melody, are truly significant and explain all the love that Tuomas (keyboardist and songwriter) feels for the things dear to him, particularly music. "Feel For You" and "The Phantom Of The Opera" are perhaps the weakest points of the album. Not for the music, always meticulously curated, but for the lyrics, disconnected from the context. The former is once again a duet between the two singers, with quite a good result. The latter is a remake of A. L. Webber's work, in a metal version.

We've reached "Beauty Of The Beast", my favorite Nightwish track. Over ten minutes in length, it unfolds in three different moments, all very beautiful and evocative. At the end, Sam Hardwick's sad voice recites the verses that close Century Child:
"Oh, sweet Christabel. Share your poetry with me
For what I know now, I am a puppet
on this silent stage.
I am just a poet who failed his best act.
A Dead Boy, who failed to write an ending
to all his poems."