Friday Favorite Beauty in Darkness I: Nightwish

The moment I saw this over at Cafe Philos, I knew I had to post it:

Tuomas Holopainen by Priscila Alanis

That, my darlings, is one of the members of Nightwish, and he is the BMILF. If you can't figure out what that means, I applaud your innocence. Of course, I developed these fond feelings for Tuomas before Nightwish kicked Tarja out and hired someone for looks more than voice - but that's a sad story, and we shan't tell it here.

Instead, we shall celebrate the beauty in darkness. Before Tarja left (and wouldn't I love to see her drawn by the artist who did the above portrait!), Nightwish was one of the best symphonic metal bands on the planet. They were my first. Before them, I'd actually never liked female leads too much, the closest I'd gotten to operatic sopranos was Sara Brightman and the cast of Les Miserables, and if you'd told me that a few years later that a plurality of my music collection would consist of fabulous females, I'd have laughed you out of the house. I listened to Dimmu Borgir, damn it!

Times and tastes change.

So kick back. Turn the lights down, the volume up, and come along on a little journey with me. We'll start with some traveling music. There's nothing like the album Oceanborn to drive an epic landscape to:

Gethsemane - Nightwish

I've played this album driving up the San Francisco Peaks, winding down Oak Creek Canyon, and sweeping up the Pacific Coast. And it's probably the best place to start if you want to develop a Nightwish addiction.

After travels come travails. Light a few candles and put yourself in a somber frame of mind:

Two For Tragedy - Nightwish

That is true beauty in darkness.

Let's sail with Odysseus, now, lash ourselves to the ship's wheel and hear a siren's song:

The Siren - Nightwish

You now know which song I use as the litmus test for any sound system I put in. Fantastic, isn't it just? I'll be Homer never thought he'd inspire such wonders.

Can't get enough? Like those wonderful, complex songs that change and move and seem like a symphony in themselves? I have precisely what you've been wishing for:

Beauty Of The Beast - Nightwish

That last song comes from an album called Century Child. If you get really, really impatient, and decide you absolutely must have a sneak-peek at what my entire series of novels shall be like, nearly the entire story is contained therein. Well, not the details, obviously, but the overarching theme that unfolds throughout the whole.

And there you have it, my darlings. There is indeed beauty in darkness. Nightwish was just the beginning. There will be other tales told in the long nights to come. There may even be spectacular art to go with them, depending on what delights Paul manages to find in the coming months.