Kitee () is a town and a municipality of Finland.

It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of ( }}) and covers an area of |km2}} of which |km2|abbr=on}} is water. The population density is |PD/km2}}.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Songwriter/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and former vocalist Tarja Turunen of the symphonic metal band Nightwish are from Kitee.

References

External links

Category:Cities and towns in Finland Category:Municipalities of North Karelia Region Category:Populated places established in 1631

Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. Formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen, Nightwish's current line-up has five members, although Tarja has been replaced by Anette Olzon and the original bassist, Sami Vänskä, has been replaced by Marco Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist part; previously male vocal-parts were done by Tuomas or guest singers.

Although Nightwish has been prominent in their home country since the release of their first single, “The Carpenter” (1997) and debut album Angels Fall First, they did not achieve worldwide fame until the release of the albums Oceanborn, Wishmaster and Century Child, which were released in 1998, 2000 and 2002 respectively. Their 2004 album, Once, which has sold more than 1 million copies, led to the broadcast of Nightwish video clips on MTV in the United States and inclusion of their music in US movie soundtracks. Their biggest US hit single, “Wish I Had an Angel” (2004), made it onto three US film soundtracks as a means to promote their North American tour. The band produced three more singles and two music videos for the album, as well as “Sleeping Sun”, from the 2005 “best of” compilation album, Highest Hopes, prior to vocalist Tarja Turunen’s dismissal. and in the autumn, the band released a new album, Dark Passion Play, which has sold almost 2 million copies, with their big single, "Amaranth", being released one month before. The supporting tour started on October 6, 2007 and ended on September 19, 2009. A new E.P./live album, Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places), was released in March 2009 as a MCD/DVD, and a seventh studio album, titled Imaginarium, is in production, set for release in early 2012. The group is also the most successful Finnish band abroad with more than 7 million records sold worldwide, and having collected over 60 gold and platinum awards. the album also is one of the two releases which features keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen's vocals, appearing on four of the album's eleven tracks, alongside vocalist Tarja Turunen. During the winter of 1997 and 1998, the band performed only seven times, because of Nevalainen and Holopainen’s obligatory Finnish military service, and Turunen finishing her schooling. Oceanborn saw the band abandon much of the ambient and folk elements present on their debut release, with the only exception of "Moondance". In contrast to the female vocals of Turunen, the album also featured guest growling vocals by Tapio Wilska (ex-Finntroll), since Tuomas did not want to sing again. Wilska is also a former member of Nattvindens Gråt.

Oceanborn was very better received than the previous CD, with Allmusic writing that the album “(...)as a whole works great(...)”, with songs that are “(...)very strong(...)”. Oceanborn was an instant success in Finland, reaching number 5 on the Finnish album charts. The album’s first single, “Sacrament of Wilderness”, hit number 1 on the Finnish singles charts, where it stayed for several weeks. In May 1999, Nightwish recorded the single “Sleeping Sun (Four Ballads of the Eclipse)”, in one month the single sold 15,000 copies in Germany alone. Following the band’s first international success, Nightwish was added as opening band for Rage’s 1999 European tour. Both the album Oceanborn and the singles “Sacrament of Wilderness” and "Walking in the Air were certified gold in Finland in August 1999.

While in the studio in early 2000 working on their third album, Nightwish was accepted in the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Sleepwalker”. Despite winning the public vote, Nightwish eventually finished in second place, with the jury choosing local gospel singer Nina Åström to represent Finland. However, German magazine Rock Hard declared Wishmaster “Album of the Month”, despite competing against long-awaited May releases from Iron Maiden and Bon Jovi. In the summer the band returned to Europe, appearing at the Wacken Open Air festival and the Biebop Metal Fest.

The record also included guest performances by Tapio Wilska once again on "10th Man Down". Nightwish’s version of "Over the Hills and Far Away" was well received by fans, becoming a frequent part of the band’s live performances, but the songs never had a great break-through and have not been re-released, with the exception of a live performance of "10th Man Down" on the "End of Innocence" DVD with Marco Hietala (current bass player and male vocalist).

Soon after the release, Nightwish met what's been described as one of their hardest points as a band. Meanwhile, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen had started complaining about his role in the band, feeling like "a hired gun who would only do what he's asked to". According to their music teacher, Plamen Dimov, he and Holopainen have totally different characters, and thus difficulties were expected to arise. An enduring favorite of fans, though, is the band’s version of “The Phantom of the Opera”, from the famous musical of the same name by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. The song was repeatedly played on concerts until vocalist Tarja Turunen was replaced with Anette Olzon, whereupon the band announced that they would never play the song live again. After the “Bless the Child” video, a second one was recorded, without any single support. The chosen track was “End of All Hope”. The clip contains pieces from the Finnish movie, Kohtalon kirja (English: The Book of Fate).

In 2003, Nightwish released their second DVD, entitled End of Innocence. The DVD tells the story of the band in Holopainen, Nevalainen and Tapio Wilska’s words for two hours. The documentary also features bits of live concerts, exclusive footage, etc. Vocalist Tarja Turunen also got married during the summer of 2003, and there were rumours that the band was about to be dissolved. These rumours were, at the time, proven to be false, as the band continued to play concerts for another year and released another album. Tarja’s marriage later played a part in her dismissal from the band in the autumn of 2005.

Once utilizes a full orchestra in nine of the eleven songs on the album. Unlike Century Child, Nightwish decided to look for an orchestra outside of Finland this time, choosing the London Philharmonic Orchestra. and Gold in other 6 countries, it also reached #1 in the Greek, Norwegian and German album charts, and charted the Top 10 in France, Hungary and Sweden. The following singles were: "Wish I Had an Angel" (featured on the soundtrack of the film Alone in the Dark), "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (released only in Finland and Japan) and "The Siren". Besides the commercial success, Once was also well received by critics, with many positive reviewers drawing comparisons with Oceanborn. Nightwish performed at the opening ceremony of the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, held in Helsinki, highlighting the acclaim the band had gained. A “best of” album was released in September 2005, containing songs from their whole discography. The compilation is entitled Highest Hopes, also featuring a live cover of Pink Floyd’s song "High Hopes" (from the album The Division Bell) (). Besides High Hopes, a remake of "Sleeping Sun" (from Oceanborn) was included on the album and it was also released as a single. A new video for "Sleeping Sun" was shot, featuring a medieval battle, and can be found on the German release of the single and as a separate DVD released by Spinefarm. It was written by Holopainen but signed by the other three band members. The main justification given in the letter for Turunen’s dismissal was that the band felt that both her husband Marcelo Cabuli (an Argentine businessman) and commercial interests had changed her attitude towards the band. She felt that the personal attacks on her husband were unwarranted, and that playing the issue out in public was “senselessly cruel”. She expressed these feelings through her own open letter, which was published on her personal website, During this time, speculation began to emerge about who would eventually be chosen, and the band stated on their website that fans should not believe any source other than the band itself for information regarding the new vocalist; Holopainen has said in interviews he did not wish to reveal her identity until new material was available because he did not want fans judging her by nothing more than a picture, or past work. It was originally scheduled for release on May 30, but the date was changed because of a leak on a British music download site. it was released in Finland on August 22 and included a bonus track entitled "While Your Lips Are Still Red" written by Tuomas as the main theme track for the upcoming Finnish feature film “Lieksa!”. Hungary and got in top 100 in other 16 countries, including the United States.

In this album, male vocalist Marco Hietala has more freedom in the use of his voice: he sings back up in the songs "Cadence of Her Last Breath" and "Sahara", lead vocals in the songs "The Islander", "Master Passion Greed" and "While Your Lips Are Still Red", and chorus in the songs "Bye Bye Beautiful" and "7 Days to the Wolves". Their first official concert with the new singer was in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 6, 2007. The Dark Passion Play tour thus started, visiting the United States, Canada, most of Europe, Asia, and Australia.

The third single of the album was "Erämaan viimeinen", a previously unreleased vocal version of the instrumental song "Last of the Wilds”". It was released in Finland only on December 5, 2007; On this song, Jonsu of the Finnish pop and rock band Indica performs the Finnish vocals. Within a week after the release, the fifth single was announced to be "The Islander". "The Islander" single features an orchestral version of the epic ballad "Meadows of Heaven" and also includes an instrumental version of "Escapist" and a new edit version of "The Islander" itself. It was released over a month after the release of its music video, shot in late 2007 in Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland.

On March 6, 2009, Nightwish released a new live MCD/DVD entitled Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places). The eight live tracks were recorded during the "Dark Passion Play World Tour" in 2007–2008, and the album also includes one b-side from the "Bye Bye Beautiful" single, one b-side from the "Amaranth" single, a previously unreleased demo version of "Cadence of Her Last Breath", and a bonus-DVD with three music videos as well as a 37 minute documentary called "Back in the Day is Now". Holopainen said in a 2010 interview that "[...]I can't reveal to you anymore but there is going to be a big twist so to say, on the next album." In an interview with Uilleann pipist Troy Donockley (who recorded with the band on Dark Passion Play), when asked about his involvement in the new album, he stated "Oh yes, I will be playing on the next album and from what Tuomas has told me, it is going to be something extraordinary..." and on June 2, it was announced that he had finished recording the pre-production demo. and often used references to "metaphysics and nature". For example, the song "Elvenpath" is about fantasy in general with references to traditional stories as well as Tolkien. Through the years the lyrics became more personal. On Wishmaster, the title track is still a "tribute to Tolkien and all the other fantasy writers", and "FantasMic" is a direct tribute to Walt Disney and Disney animated films, which Holopainen has said are among his influences. However, with "Dead Boy's Poem", the album also includes a very emotional piece, which Holopainen calls his "legacy and [...] testament for the whole world. [...] I wanted to do this song before I die, because I wanted to tell the whole world what I think and feel. It expresses a lot of myself." "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" (eng. "Death Makes an Artist") from the Once album describes the experience of loss and its impact on art, "Nemo" deals with the feeling of being lost, while "Dead Gardens" deals with a bout of artist's block Holopainen suffered from. Other songs also contain many references to authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman and Stephen King, but the album also features a return to the fantasy theme with songs such as "Sahara", "Whoever Brings the Night" and "7 Days to the Wolves". The 2004 song Creek Mary's Blood also featured a poem read in Lakota, originally written in English and then translated by guest singer John Two-Hawks. Songs like “Beauty of the Beast” (from Century Child), “Ghost Love Score” (from Once) and “The Poet and the Pendulum” (from Dark Passion Play) are examples of this influence. Other songs, such as “Bye Bye Beautiful” (from Dark Passion Play), and “Wish I Had an Angel” (from Once) have elements of industrial metal, and some others, like “The Islander” and “Last of the Wilds” (from Dark Passion Play), “Creek Mary's Blood” (from Once), and the Angels Fall First album have elements of folk metal. Holopainen has also said that film music is the music he listens to for leisure. Ex-singer of symphonic metal band Visions of Atlantis, Nicole Bogner, also acknowledged that Nightwish had greatly inspired them for their first album. Sander Gommans of After Forever said that Nightwish “will certainly influence us in creating new songs”. Power metal band Sonata Arctica’s lead singer Tony Kakko has explained how much of an influence Nightwish is to him.

Musical style

The band is also known to be complex and multi-layered. Critic Chad Bowar notes that the music is "always very melodic with memorable choruses and a lot of hooks."

The usage of a female vocalist has become a sort of trademark, though less so since the outbreak of new female fronted metal bands in the mid-2000s with the popularization of bands such as Evanescence, Within Temptation, Leaves' Eyes, and several gothic metal bands mixing female and male vocals, such as Tristania, Epica and the early Within Temptation. but this is not a view shared by all members of the group, including band composer Tuomas Holopainen. Nightwish was perceived to shift from their trademark power metal style for a more "commercial" gothic sound on their albums Century Child and Once. The music of Nightwish had been "distinguished by the operatic voice" of soprano Tarja Turunen, a "charismatic frontwoman with a powerful voice". Critics observed that her vocals became less operatic with the release of Once. Following the departure of Tarja Turunen from the group, Nightwish left behind the "signature operatic vocals" of their earlier albums. the band has also featured some male vocals on their albums ever since their debut release Angels Fall First. This debut album also included "elements of folk music and ambience" that were discarded on their subsequent album Oceanborn.

Line-Up

Current members

Former members

Discography

See also

Further reading

Consulted Bibliography

References and sources

External links

Category:Article Feedback Pilot * Category:1990s music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:2010s music groups Category:Finnish gothic metal musical groups Category:Finnish power metal musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1996 Category:Musical quintets Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Finnish symphonic metal musical groups