After what some would think to be too long of a time, Nightwish has finally released another LP. The new CD is entitled, Century Child, and let's just say that fans of Nightwish need not be worried nor disappointed. The new album is fantastic!! Songs on the album are heavier and far more orchestra driven than their previous releases. Songs like "Beauty of the Beast", "Slaying The Dream", and "End of All Hope" scream with traditional epic power metal. Only its Nightwish, and we all know Nightwish does metal good and sometimes better. Its much better in this case as there isn't a single bad track on the album.

Upon listening you can easily tell that the maturity of the band has increased and songs are more solid and complete. Tarja's voice has also matured. Her range is more apparent this time around. Songs like "Phantom of the Opera"(which, by the way, is a cover song of Andrew Lloyd Webber's version) and "Ever Dream" really show off Tarja's talent as a vocalist.

Speaking of vocalists, Nightwish has incorporated male vocals into a number of their songs as well. The most obvious would be the vocals in "Slaying the Dream" in which a male vocalist screams in traditional black metal fashion during a very heavy riffing interlude. It caught me by surprise and made me love the song even more than I already did. "Slaying the Dream" is my favorite track on the album right now. But this may only be temporary, because given the amount of quality these songs contain, I can easily see alot of these songs switching and changing places in my favorite song list.