Nightwish - Human. :II: Nature. review
| Band: | Nightwish |
| Album: | Human. :II: Nature. |
| Style: | Symphonic power metal, Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | April 10, 2020 |
| A review by: | musclassia |
Disc I
01. Music
02. Noise
03. Shoemaker
04. Harvest
05. Pan
06. How's The Heart?
07. Procession
08. Tribal
09. Endlessness
Disc II
01. All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World - Vista
02. All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World - The Blue
03. All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World - The Green
04. All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World - Moors
05. All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World - Aurorae
06. All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World - Quiet As The Snow
07. All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World - Anthropocene (incl. "Hurrian Hymn To Nikkal")
08. All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World - Ad Astra
With Human. :II: Nature., Nightwish aim to explore life, the universe and everything, but spend too much time staring at the bigger picture to notice the smaller necessities they've overlooked.
Nightwish have had a slightly bumpy couple of decades. Some might argue that signs of a decline were there before original singer Tarja Turunen departed, but it was this event, and her replacement with Anette Olzon, which really split the fanbase. After two divisive and (in my opinion) inconsistent releases with Olzon, singer number three arrived in the form of Floor Jansen, something of a coup given her outstanding versatility and power. Her first studio outing with the group, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, was possibly a stronger release than either of Olzon's records, but after the adventurous nature of Imaginaerum, it felt like quite a safe record, returning heavily to the sound of Once in particular. But hey, they had a stellar singer that they wanted to give some of her own songs to sing live, and it made sense to stick to what they knew worked. Five years later, and Human. :II: Nature. is the opportunity to truly see what Nightwish can do with Floor on board. Sadly, what they can do simply isn't up to snuff.
Human. :II: Nature. is more "experimental" than Endless Forms Most Beautiful, and none of these experiments are egregious backfires (except perhaps the chanting towards the end of "Tribal"), but nor are they particularly rewarding. According to Jansen, the song "Shoemaker" lacks a typical structure. I would argue that Nightwish aren't the kind of band that can really pull off such a venture, as the flow of this track is rather lacking. Additionally, the convoluted ascending vocal lines earlier on in the song aren't really delivered with the power one would expect from Floor. After "Shoemaker" comes "Harvest", another notable departure for the group. "Disney music" has long been a label used in certain circles to describe more modern Nightwish, and it's not been one I really saw as valid before "Harvest" dropped as a single. A vehicle for Troy Donockley to shine as a lead vocalist, it really does feel taken from a musical animated movie, particularly with its acapella harmonies; however, I doubt it would be the highlight of whatever soundtrack it was featured in, and is only partially rescued by the instrumental midsection, a pleasant throwback to the folk of "I Want My Tears Back" from Imaginaerum.
Some have maligned Donockley's permanent membership and subsequent increased role in the group as a major contributing factor to the issues Human. :II: Nature. has. In and of itself, I don't find it to be a problem; I've enjoyed folky elements in Nightwish songs, especially "I Want My Tears Back" (probably my favourite post-Tarja Nightwish song), and whilst I don't like "Harvest" (nor am I particularly enthused by "How's The Heart?"), I haven't got any major issue with him as a vocalist in principle. However, the fact that he gets a whole song to take centre stage on only makes the minimal presence of Marco Hietala's vocals more glaring. He is the lead singer with an uncharacteristically docile performance on "Endlessness" and gets a small backing bit in "Tribal", but otherwise is largely absent on the vocal front, despite having a far more captivating voice than Donockley, which is frankly bewildering to me. On the topic of vocals, much has been said regarding Floor Jansen on this record. Personally, I've found the songs in general to have been a bigger issue than anything she's done specifically, but as someone who's seen her smash the likes of "Ghost Love Score", "The Poet And The Pendulum" and more live, I really can't say anything on Human. :II: Nature. impressed me to a remotely similar degree.
I don't completely dislike this album, not by any means. I enjoyed "Noise" when it dropped as the first single, and I continue to enjoy it within the context of the record. It's very much in the vein of their post-2000 material, relatively simplistic but with a memorable chorus hook and a suitably exciting dramatic bridge during which Floor moves into more operatic territory. "Pan", another heavier cut, brings the bombast in its electric chorus and allows Jansen a chance to dig into some more twisted vocal melodies during the verses. Nevertheless, even these tracks stand out within the context of the rest of Human. :II: Nature., rather than the Nightwish discography as a whole.
In relation to the lyrics explored on Human. :II: Nature., Nightwish have mentioned some pretty huge themes in the press building up to this release, including the history of music, planetary science, love and the meaning of life. The ambition is clearly there thematically and in terms of musical experimentation, but the songs just don't back it up. For a start, a song that allegedly describes the entire evolution of music should have a lot more going for it than "Music", a track that, like "Procession", came and went on each playthrough without leaving much of an impression of any kind, good or bad.
All the music discussed so far only covers disc 1 of Human. :II: Nature.; disc 2 of this release is the furthest exploration of the 'symphonic' aspect of Nightwish yet, a 30-minute purely orchestral venture. I think all of us on this website can agree it's harder to compare this music against the vast expanse of orchestral music that exists, even if we restrict ourselves to modern compositions, than it is to discuss the metal songs. I will say, fair play to Holopainen, this was a bold step for him and it wasn't a disaster; "All The Works Of Nature Which Adorn The World" doesn't massively drag at any point, with a decent ebb and flow, and well-paced introduction of unique elements, such as the focus on pipes in part 4, "Moors", which has a touch of Rohan's music from The Lord Of The Rings. At the same time, the most natural comparison for disc 2 is the music to films such as The Lord Of The Rings, and compared against the great scores, even of the 21st century, it is a somewhat rudimentary effort. Additionally, the rehash of "The Greatest Show On Earth" with a lengthy spoken word diatribe regarding the place of man within the world slightly tarnishes the final movement, "Ad Astra".
Nightwish reached for greatness on Human. :II: Nature., but in doing lost a lot of what made them great in the first place, at least for me. I've found every Nightwish release from Once onwards to have notable ups and downs, but I've always found at least something worth returning for. I may revisit "Noise" and "Pan" on occasion, but otherwise I cannot see Human. :II: Nature. offering any lasting appeal.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 7 |
| Songwriting: | 5 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 7 |
Comments page 2 / 4
Comments: 120
Visited by: 582 users
| Nejde Posts: 1695  |
Written by MariLee on 14.04.2020 at 11:52 I find it VERY suspicious that this account was created today and instantly starts bashing on musclassia because he didn't write a favourable review. This is pure trolling from someone on the label (or such) who can't accept that there are professional reviewers who don't like the album together with most people commenting here btw. Also imo musclassia has the most thourough reviews here on MS analyzing albums song by song before summarizing them so saying he spent 20 minutes writing this is just rude. And how is writing a half negative review destroying their reputation? Allow me to laugh. And to ask if he can create anything better is just ridiculous. That's not what he does. He reviews music, not creating it (I assume)
---- Liebe ist für alle da.
Loading...
|
| AJD92 Posts: 1 |
|
| tominator At best deranged Contributor Posts: 1063  |
"Destroying the reputation of an artist's multi-year project?" Newsflash, art is supposed to be subjective. So anyone can give his/her opinion as they please. That's how it works. That's how art works. "So-called experts?" At no point whatsoever did musclassia say he is the be all and end all expert on music. I do find musclassia's reviews very well written. I've written a couple reviews as well throughout the last couple of years and let me tell you that the last thing I would call myself is "an expert". It's an opinion piece. Value it any way you want. Agree, disagree, that's all fine. But keep it respectful and don't start with insinuations... "It is written between the lines (and confirmed by other comments)" Ehm... frankly speaking, I think you are seeing things that aren't there. And confirmed by other comments. Just because others talk about that and you have a discussion with them, doesn't mean you've been writing stuff between the lines. Spoiler alert... You have to mention the other work of the band of course since that's the stuff you can compare to in the first place. That doesn't however mean that you want the entire discussion to be about the previous singer, hence why musclassia barely mentioned Tarja in the review. The discussion about the actual music itself was more important. "Are you able to create anything better? Or at least anything on the same level?" Ah... the classic argument... Let me give you the same answer as I gave to someone else some time ago. We don't have to create something better. A lot of bands already did that for us... And that includes Nightwish themselves. Now disagree with that all you want (I don't care). But with that fallacy you've just written down, art would lose all its value. If only other musicians can give their opinion what's the point then? I guess in that case you wouldn't be satisfied either... Because what would a thrash metal musician know about symphonic metal anyway, huh? They don't do the same style, who are they to criticise a symphonic metal band? An opinion piece (which basically is a review) has always value. It's how someone perceives something. Whether you agree with that or not... that's on you. But musclassia's opinion is just as valuable as yours. Now which one someone respects the most is another thing of course... Let's just say I personally respect someones opinion more when they don't use insinuations about someone else...
Loading...
|
| SikorskiWitness Posts: 11 |
|
| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9027  |
MariLee is right guys. Please stop negatively reviewing things. I, for one, will quit reviewing until I can make an album better than anything I review.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
Loading...
|
| JoHn Doe Posts: 5081  |
This album is EVIL, the rating is at 6.66 (BWAHAHA - HAHA - HAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
Loading...
|
| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345  |
All the new profiles have been created by different people, I checked so there is nothing wrong there. So welcome to Metal Storm, new users. That said, we like to keep things civil, you can criticize the content of this review or disagree with comments other people make as much as you like but if you feel like doing that keep in mind that a) it is one of the most detailed reviews out there at the moment so it would be nice if you also provide detailed arguments for your disagreement (optional), and b) you should refrain from insults, personal attacks and foul language (mandatory). This is the first and final warning for everyone. I have already deleted one comment and I will proceed with banning people who don't keep it civil. Ffs this is the first thing musclassia said on this thread and I urge you to listen. The warning applies to both old and new users. Thank you in advance for complying with our rules and policies. If you want to insult people, I am sure there are other websites where you can do just that. Metal Storm will not tolerate this type of behaviour.
Loading...
|
| musclassia Staff Posts: 7621  |
Written by Nejde on 14.04.2020 at 12:19 I'm actually in a band, we have a song on Spotify! I wouldn't begin to say we're comparable in quality to Nightwish, but we've probably had maximum 30 rehearsals and 5 gigs, and we don't get multiple thousands of pounds from record labels to produce it, so I wouldn't expect us to be. Also, thanks for the comments 
Loading...
|
| musclassia Staff Posts: 7621 |
Written by AJD92 on 14.04.2020 at 12:55 Yeah, I was never fully on board with the Anette albums but I did think Imaginaerum was very adventurous, so I could see someone who was very fond of that record being a bit let down by how relatively safe EFMB was in comparison. I'll be honest, reviewing this album and revisiting their discography in preparation for it has given me a newfound appreciation for Imaginaerum - I'd always just listened to Storytime, I Want My Tears Back and Last Ride Of The Day, and left the rest (I always liked the first half of Song of Myself, but the spoken word second half was a bit too much), but I enjoyed it more than I remembered on this latest replay, even if I think there's still ups and downs.
Loading...
|
| musclassia Staff Posts: 7621 |
Written by nikarg on 14.04.2020 at 14:33 Yeah, from my end I've got no problems with new users joining to discuss this review. MariLee aside, all the other new commenters I've seen and replied to were perfectly reasonable with what they said (although I missed the one you deleted), it's gone a lot better than some other negative reviews on the website have so far
Loading...
|
| MetalManic Posts: 653  |
Written by MariLee on 14.04.2020 at 11:52 It's a concerning mindset when one believes that a band should approach writing/performing new material by collecting advice outside of their creative circle.
Loading...
|
| Nejde Posts: 1695 |
Written by musclassia on 14.04.2020 at 15:02 I stand corrected then  Still, it doesn't matter if you're in a band or not when you're reviewing music and sharing your personal opinion on it. I've discovered a lot of good music from the MS reviews and when it comes to bands I already listen to it's fun to hear what others think. So keep doing what you do. It's much appreciated 
---- Liebe ist für alle da.
Loading...
|
| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
One of these is not like the others 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
Loading...
|
| musclassia Staff Posts: 7621 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 14.04.2020 at 20:18 Yep Wikipedia, that's my very positive 5.7 right there
Loading...
|
| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9027 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 14.04.2020 at 20:18 Even that 3/5 is like a 6/10. Not very positive.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
Loading...
|
| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345 |
Written by RaduP on 14.04.2020 at 20:53 It's not positive but it doesn't look as negative as we consider a 6 to be here. On MS when we see 6 we automatically think the album is for the dumpster. Which is not true by the way.
Loading...
|
| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by nikarg on 14.04.2020 at 21:18 Yeah a 3/5 always seems to look better than a 6/10 for some reason, even though they equate to the same score.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
Loading...
|
| The Witchfinder Account deleted |
|
| justsaying Posts: 24 |
Written by Irritable Ted on 14.04.2020 at 10:46 I didn't say I didn't appreciate her singing GLS live and I've heard it live more than once or twice (not Wacken, though). It's been a feat but if one truly listens what she is doing throughout the album, it's way more impressive than the end of GLS as a whole. In this one, she basically goes through her entire range. The technicality needed in e.g. Music to sing those intervals with such a precision requires skill and talent, it's just in another style and what I've noticed reading reviews and watching reactions those with music background spot it, whereas some ignore it, see it dull, Disney like, something a granny could sing (nope, unless a highly skilled singer). On this one there is high belting very similar to that legendary ending. Furthermore, there is lower belting e.g. in Noise where Floor actually stays most of the time quite low in her register. There is more poppish sound e.g. in How's the Heart (again, another technique used in singing), there is high operatic at the end of Shoemaker (clearest example of Floor's operatic recorded, I think, not sure whether her highest note too, ever, recorded). There is heavier, growlier sound in Tribal. Alike, probably the most difficult use of scales and switches between scales so far, too, added some descending chromatic scales in Pan and some other atonal features of modern music they haven't used that much in the past. Alike, some rhythmic changes are not so easy to master, e.g. the one at the end How's the Heart. And people keep on insisting that they underused her vocally? Were people expecting her just to do high belts, some head voice opera in between and maybe some growls and consider that the climax of difficult, technical singing? Really? Because they chose to use other, highly demanding singing techniques besides those (all present too, I remind), it's not good enough or difficult enough? And what comes to Marco, well, actually he is already singing some backups and harmonies in Music. It's not so pronounced as in some earlier stuff, in which actually the tones and techniques used also kept Marco's voice separate from Tarja's and then Annette's. According to Tuomas, Marco was the one who wrote/polished the harmonies so if one cannot really hear him,well, blame him for it. In best of the harmonies the voices start to blend and the more singers there are, the more difficult it may be to spot and hear all the individual singers.
Loading...
|
| tominator At best deranged Contributor Posts: 1063 |
Written by musclassia on 14.04.2020 at 20:36 I was about to say, you're not far off from that 3/5 review. Honestly, the 5.9/10 that I would give this album, wouldn't look much more positive.
Loading...
|
| ickoriss Posts: 345  |
Written by The Melting Snow on 14.04.2020 at 10:19 I actually love Dark Passion Play lol. It's probably a close second or tied for my favorite with Oceanborn.
Loading...
|
| Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena Posts: 7557  |
Written by [user id=220667] on 14.04.2020 at 22:26 It happens with Ensiferum, Wintersun and Blind Guardian too. A small discussion bloated into full spectrum by hardcore NW fans clinching to keep a poorly recorded album on top. I'm also surprised that identical accounts found above didn't relate on single IP.
Loading...
|
| justsaying Posts: 24 |
|
| Fabiano Posts: 74  |
Written by nikarg on 14.04.2020 at 21:18 We get to think that because the displaying number is close to red. Red means shit. So here we go.
Loading...
|
| Fabiano Posts: 74 |
I agree with most of the points of the reviewer. I think everyone, including me, still expect from them to release an album alike the Tarja era ones. That would be so good, Floor is amazing and wow she can sing. Can't get enough of "Shoemaker". The operatic part is awesome, but also the first part is something very good itself. That is a song which remember me of old Nightwish. The second half of Disc 1 is pretty enjoyable, I wouldn't say memorable at all, but good. I would like to see more of Marko's vocals, but we got Pyre Of The Black Heart which is awesome to say the least.
Loading...
|
| Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena Posts: 7557 |
Written by justsaying on 15.04.2020 at 09:58 It's amusing folks still battling over Tarja vs Floor vs Anette skills, when in fact it doesn't have anything to do with a newer record. Personally, I couldn't care less who sang better when it comes to Nightwish specifically. And musclassia has perfectly summed about the quality of this album. Take it and move forward.
Loading...
|
| justsaying Posts: 24 |
|
| ozzy87 Posts: 6  |
Written by musclassia on 13.04.2020 at 17:08 This is a really good review. It's difficult to disagree with your arguments, even though the approach, as most of posters here, is shallow. As You've mentioned this is a concept album and therefore if you break it down to single songs - maybe only "Noise" stands out with good melody and vibe throughout the whole composition. This is a difficult to digest record. It took me more or less 10 to 15 listening sessions to process it along with disc 2. I'm pretty sure that you haven't spent that much time focused because you produced the notes within three days of its release. As probably most of people after 1 maybe couple listenings You gave up and I'm pretty sure that this album will get critics and patient listeners recognition after some time as well.
Loading...
|
| musclassia Staff Posts: 7621 |
Written by ozzy87 on 15.04.2020 at 14:37 You're right; I gave it I believe either 4 or 5 listens before I wrote the review, and continued skimming back to songs whilst writing it. Having said that, I've listened to 168 albums released in 2020 at the time of writing. If I gave every one of those albums 15 listens, assuming an average runtime of 40 mins, if I started listening at midnight on 1st January and exclusively listened to new music (instead of, yknow, working or sleeping or anything else), that would run me through to mid-March. It's simply not a practical viewpoint that an album needs more than 3 or 4 listens in order to have at least a solid grasp of it, including its strengths and weaknesses, especially not something as structurally straightforward most as this record (there's far more avant-garde music out there that probably does necessitate it), and something as unimpressive as this record upon first, second and third listen cannot justify getting more listens than that just in the hope that in my forcing myself to like it, it will become a better album, not when I'm struggling to find the time to give adequate airplay to the actually great albums that do deserve that privilege, plus the many hundreds that I will never get round to hearing. I think that it's pretty much impossible to have a properly detailed opinion on an album with one listen or even two, but even on the second listen, if you're paying attention, you should at least start knowing what to look out for, and where the major strengths and weaknesses seem to lie. Requiring another 10 listens to get to a point where you can vocalize what's good and bad about an album is frankly excessive, particularly for something like this, which, truth be told, isn't that profoundly complex when placed against the wider sphere of music. There are plenty of albums that I came to like more as I listened to them more (which is an incredibly natural response to familiarizing yourself to music), but I cannot think of a single album that it took me 15 listens to transition from disliking to thinking is a masterpiece; if I'm not headed in that direction by listen 3, it will never happen. I'm also a bit tired of how the number of mandatory listens to be able to appreciate an album seems to increase every time someone comes to defend a negative opinion of an album by a band they love - when I first started using this website, it was around 5 or 6 that people would claim was required, now we're at 15? I have and will spam replay albums from bands that I love upon release to get them embedded in myself, but those albums have always been something I actually liked a lot on first or at least second listen, and it was always something I enjoyed doing rather than forcing myself to do.
Loading...
|
| MetalManic Posts: 653 |
@muclassia To add: Some albums benefit more if the listener is in the mood for that particular style at the time of listening. Regardless, listening to an album 2-3 times is a very reasonable approach to garnering an opinion of the material. Even if one is not feeling it at the time (not saying that this case for you). Conversely, I believe that one's opinion can be susceptible to hyperinflation if they are currently in that 'sweet spot' mood for listing to a particular genre. Even more so if it is a favorite band. I appreciate the unveiling of your process.
Loading...
|
Hits total: 23060 | This month: 88