Nightwish: “Perfume of the Timeless” & Opinion

Nightwish just released a new song from their much anticipated album Yesterwynde. I never speak on much detail about specific songs during album reviews, so instead of just sharing the song (you most probably have already heard it), why not share a thought or two?

Liked: The orchestration of the song is excellent and has a great production, with the classical instruments sounding very crisp. At the same time, the choirs are also very nice and their sound/tone feels fresh. What I love most in Nightwish is when they go heavy, so it is no surprise that I adore that faster outburst part after the second chorus. Fortunately, the guitars are not an afterthought, but are mixed nicely and have gravity in the final result. During the main riff I want to shake my head which is a great omen. As for Floor, what more can we say than what is already said? Listening to her is always a treat and this song is no exception.

Disliked: I have an impression that the vocals are lower in the mix than it should. You have the privilage of having one of the best voices at your disposal, let it shine!!! The song is 8:30 in duration which is fine by itself, but has a long intro that counts almost 2:20 minutes, and an extended outro of almost 1:30 min that could be shorter. That leaves us essentially with a 4:30 min song. Now that we are in honeymoon phase it is not a big issue, but in the album it is placed at number 5, which I guess will harm the flow of the record. Generally I am not the biggest fan of long unskipable intros woven within songs, same thing happened in Music. Finally, I believe the song lacks much innovation as it reminds a lot of the other two albums with Floor on vocals. Understandable since they are part of the same trilogy, but the heavy part in the middle is similar to Noise and the whole song feels like it came out of Endless Forms Most Beautiful.

Verdict: In terms of Symphonic Metal and as a herald of new music aproaching, Perfume of the Timeless is surely a high quality song that shines with its very positive vibes. Being the new Nightwish single though, I do not stand impressed. To put it differently: I expect it to end up as just a good moment within Yesterwynde, surrounded by banger compositions. If you had heard the album and told me this is its best song, I would be dissapointed. During any live show in the future, I would be totally fine if they skipped this one. I loved Human || Nature though, so I guess when I have the entire record in my hands, this composition will sound better as part of the total.

Pavlos Pavlakis

On behalf of Metal Domain