Hailing from the depths of Finland, Nightwish have mastered the fusion of testosterone-fulled metal riffs with the intense operatic vocals of Tarja Turunen.  This DVD is the first offering from the gothic rockers, paying homage to the intensely powerful anthemic catalogue with plenty of live footage that will incite even the most reserved individual to jump out of their seat and start punching the air and throwing devils horns.

Faithfully documenting the history of the band from a personal perspective, including the highs and lows of a string of events that have shaped the success of Nightwish, there is a lot of content on this DVD, which will leave even the thirstiest of appetites fully satisfied.  The extra features comprise of a rather shabbily translated interview (we’ll forgive them because the rest of the DVD is so entertaining), some vaguely amusing stills of the band pulling various faces, a few rather decent live footage taken from the highlights of their past tours, and finally their catalogue of music videos.

It’s clear from the start that the male contingents of Nightwish are extreme party animals, keen to live out their degenerate lifestyles as anarchic metal-heads. There’s plenty of laughs to be had from their drunken exploits and loads of silliness to boot, from drinking contests to tour bus pranks, and guitar smashing to pointless (but highly amusing) naked games – Nightwish have certainly taken it upon themselves to live up to the rock'n'roll etiquette.

Frivolities aside, the actual historic content takes a much sombre, introspective and at times beautifully moving insight when describing the making of various albums and the strange forces that drive Tuomus’ song writing.  Much of these sections are accompanied by visuals showing the sweeping landscapes of rural Finland, namely the tiny island upon which Tuomas incarcerates himself like a tortured Hermit, but this only adds to the fascination surrounding the highly schizophrenic nature of the band.

In Finnish with English subtitles, the authenticity of listening to the band speak in their native tongue adds to the enjoyment of the documentary, although the dubious translations were obviously not undertaken by native English speaker and provided a few unintentional laughs along the way. The footage opens to the band exiting the stage amidst a chanting crowd at a monster stadium gig, accompanied by the quote: ’shitty band, shitty equipment, no commercial potential’ – oh, the irony...

Strangely Tarja takes a backseat throughout most of the documentary footage, perhaps because she is seemingly a little shy, or maybe it’s because the rest of the band and their crew are rowdy nutcases that can’t help but steal the limelight.  However during the stage performances you get a real sense of band unity, the power and energy that Nightwish expel is what makes this DVD such an enticing experience. From behind the camera you get to share a little piece of their pride and success, which, after you can’t help but feel just a little nostalgic from it all.
(4/5)

Release Date: 03 November 2003

End Of Innocence