After 2015s Endless Forms Most Beautiful, Finlands Nightwish toured the globe to sold out houses, then went on hiatus. Vocalist Floor Jansen had her first child in 2017, while Tuomas Holopainen formed the folk-influenced trio Auri with singer, violinist (and wife) Johanna Kurkela, and Nightwish multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley. In 2019, drummer Jukka Nevalainen stepped away to handle the bands business side; he was replaced by Kai Hahto. Human. :II: Nature. is a double length. The first disc features nine new songs offering some of the bands best tracks in years. The second is an eight-part orchestral conceptual suite titled, All the Works of Nature which Adorn the World (divided by individual subtitles) performed with the London Session Orchestra. Seven-minute opener Music, is a comfortable intro for ardent fans; its first half consists of an instrumental buildup consisting of tribal chants, and epic choirs. Through the bridge it flirts with crossover classical and cinema music with lovely lyric hooks, synth strings and piano. It explodes with chugging, crunchy guitars and drums with Jansen framed by choral singers and a stinging six-string solo from guitarist Emppu Vuorinen. The single Noise is killer though it is a bit of an outlier: Jansen, possessed of one of the largest ranges in rock, channels the bands original vocalist Tarja Turunen here ecstatically. She is accompanied by a rubbery bassline, forceful piano crescendoes, blastbeat tom toms, and bass voiced chorale. Hows The Heart commences with thundering guitars, symphonic drums and full-bodied synths before ushering in one of Holopainens more graceful melodies. Jansen caresses the lyric accompanied by swirling keyboards, pipes, and furious downstroke guitar and bassline until the world breaks open before her. In the chorus, emotion claims the fore in her powerful voice. There are two tracks that feature male lead vocals. Harvest with its growling synth and primal tom toms and kick drum give way to a slight, mildly Celtic melody that just doesnt work due to Donockleys thin, reedy, vocal performance. Closer Endlessness,however, is one of the sets strongest cuts with bassist Marko Hietala offering commanding clean lead vocals. Nightwish back him with sweeping guitars, waves of cascading synths, buoyant strings, and flailing drums. There is an urgent sense of revelation in his singing, especially when Jansen enters the bridge to duet. The second disc is here composer Holopainens love letter to planet earth. Its a paean to the natural world with scarcely any singing -- only a wordless female chorale utilized with Jansen. The work is lovely with lush strings, brooding horns, harp, ominous and commanding percussion textural dynamics, and blissful ambience. Its romantic, poetic, and cinematic. Though the work seems part and parcel of the Nightwish aesthetic, on its own it may not appeal to all fans. That said, it does add depth and dimension to Human. :II: Nature. which is, with one exception, a consistently and deeply satisfying outing that was worth waiting for. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi