“Shudder Before The Beautiful,” the opening track off the upcoming eighth studio album by Finland-based symphonic metal storytellers NIGHTWISH, is available for streaming in its entirety on the Nuclear Blast YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/5diJsEdLS_8?list=PLB4brr7vf-P6LMpAuLbvvaskBkEUpbNuL.
Evolutionary biologist, writer, and atheist Richard Dawkins narrates the introduction to the album’s opener.
Endless Forms Most Beautiful will be released in North America on March 31st. To pre-order the new album in various physical formats, visit the Endless Forms Most Beautiful Landing Page at http://smarturl.it/NIGHTWISH-Endless.
Produced by Tero “TeeCee” Kinnunen, the title for Endless Forms Most Beautiful was taken from the writings of English naturalist Charles Darwin; the album features the participation of London’s The Metro Voices choir group, London’s Young Musicians Children‘s Choir, and the Orchestre De Grandeur led by the esteemed orchestral arranger Pip Williams, who teaches Music and Music Technology at the London College of Music. Professor Richard Dawkins not only narrates the introduction to the album’s opener, “Shudder Before The Beautiful,” but also the album’s closer, “The Greatest Show On Earth,” which takes its name from his 2009 book on evolution.
Last week, NIGHTWISH announced a fan contest to create a cover version of their single "Élan." Prizes for three Grand Prize Winners & two Runners Up include NIGHTWISH t-shirts, posters, and autographed photo cards. For complete contest instructions & rules, visit http://bit.ly/nightwish-elan-contest.
This contest ends on Thursday, April 10th. Winners will be announced on April 16th, 2015.
NIGHTWISH’s video for "Élan" features some of Finland’s most beloved elderly actors & actresses and was shot in 11 days in eight abandoned Finnish locations by director Ville Lipiäinen. Watch the video on the Nuclear Blast YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/VZisUxkdnTo?list=PLB4brr7vf-P6LMpAuLbvvaskBkEUpbNuL
(Click on image to view the "Élan" video.)
View episodes of NIGHTWISH’s new album trailer series here.
Endless Forms Most Beautiful track listing:
01. Shudder Before The Beautiful
02. Weak Fantasy
03. Élan (order the digital single here, which includes the non-album bonus track “Sagan”)
04. Yours Is An Empty Hope
05. Our Decades In the Sun
06. My Walden
07. Endless Forms Most Beautiful
08. Edema Ruh
09. Alpenglow
10. The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula
11. The Greatest Show On Earth
NIGHTWISH’s 27-date headlining tour of North America for 2015 launches in New York City on April 9, 2015 and travels to three Canadian cities plus Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles before closing out in Silver Springs, Maryland on May 14th. Direct support will come from Swedish heavy metallers SABATON; opening will be Dutch symphonic metallers DELAIN.
Three shows have already sold out. Get your tickets now via Ticketmaster.com. VIP Meet & Greet tickets (which includes early entry + an official tour program) are on sale at EnterTheVault.com.
Dates for the 2015 NIGHTWISH tour with SABATON and Delain are:
04/09/15 Hammerstein Ballroom – New York, NY
04/10/15 Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
04/11/15 Palladium – Worcester, MA
04/13/15 Capitole Theatre – Quebec City, QC – CANADA ***SOLD OUT***
04/14/15 Phoenix Concert Theater – Toronto, ON – CANADA ***SOLD OUT***
04/16/15 Town Ballroom – Buffalo, NY
04/17/15 Agora Theatre – Cleveland, OH
04/18/15 Concorde Music Hall – Chicago, IL ***SOLD OUT***
04/19/15 7 Flags Events Center - Clive, IA
04/21/15 Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
04/22/15 In The Venue – Salt Lake City, UT
04/24/15 Knitting Factory – Spokane, WA
04/25/15 Orpheum Theatre – Vancouver, B.C. – CANADA
04/26/15 Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR
04/28/15 Warfield Theatre – San Francisco, CA
04/30/15 House Of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
05/01/15 Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
05/02/15 Marquee Theatre – Phoenix, AZ
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