The Upcoming Nightwish Album

[Spectre 267]

I couldn't stop thinking about the signs on the tour poster recently posted by @GhostHell in the 2020 Tour thread:

They are Babylonian cuneiform signs. My working assumption is that the album title is encoded in cuneiform - who knows, maybe it's even a kind of puzzle for the fans? Since we don't seem to have an Assyriologist among us it may indeed be difficult to solve. Some internet research yielded the following results:

The first symbol resembles the cuneiform sign for "man", though the string attached to it at the upper right could obviously change the meaning significantly.

The second sign is the DINGIR sign for "god", "haven" or "deity", sometimes it's also referred to as "star":

Not sure whether this is of relevance here, but one of the greatest works of literature from ancient Babylon is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It includes many interesting and fundamental themes, such as Gilgamesh's futile struggle for immortality, his friend Enkidu's journey to the Netherworld and the Great Flood. One of the chapters of Carl Sagan's book "Contact" also refers to the Gilgamesh epic.

I could see those themes playing well together with dystopian themes inspired by Black Mirror as well as the religious / transcendental issues suggested by other forum members. Really curious how this plays out!

[Speckofdust 96]

So the London sessions are done?

 

[CenturyChild625 470]

10 hours ago, Spectre said:

I couldn't stop thinking about the signs on the tour poster recently posted by @GhostHell in the 2020 Tour thread:

They are Babylonian cuneiform signs. My working assumption is that the album title is encoded in cuneiform - who knows, maybe it's even a kind of puzzle for the fans? Since we don't seem to have an Assyriologist among us it may indeed be difficult to solve. Some internet research yielded the following results:

The first symbol resembles the cuneiform sign for "man", though the string attached to it at the upper right could obviously change the meaning significantly.

The second sign is the DINGIR sign for "god", "haven" or "deity", sometimes it's also referred to as "star":

Not sure whether this is of relevance here, but one of the greatest works of literature from ancient Babylon is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It includes many interesting and fundamental themes, such as Gilgamesh's futile struggle for immortality, his friend Enkidu's journey to the Netherworld and the Great Flood. One of the chapters of Carl Sagan's book "Contact" also refers to the Gilgamesh epic.

I could see those themes playing well together with dystopian themes inspired by Black Mirror as well as the religious / transcendental issues suggested by other forum members. Really curious how this plays out!

Oh, very interesting theory! The Epic of Gilgamesh would be something fascinating to base some songs around, and a concept. The origins of many myths and legends in that region stem from ancient Sumerian, Assyrian, or Babylonian texts and stories. The themes could be tied into so much. Not to mention focusing on the themes you just mentioned. If he is taking EFMB and moving ahead from there, it would make sense.

The themes can be related, but, that doesn't mean the music has to be. Although, based on the recent recordings in London, I think it's safe to say there are some orchestral elements on this album. Which is fine by me. Although, I hope we also get some old-school metal, and I really just want more of Floor's voice .

[Speckofdust 96]

Some update from Pip W. taken from Ocean Souls Polish fb group:

Mały update od Pipa odnośnie nowego albumu:

''Well, the Nightwish London sessions are a wrap and these were definitely among the best we've done together.
Almost every session finished early because of the extraordinary talents of our orchestra, choir and amazing soloists. There were some ridiculously difficult parts for them to play/sing and Tuomas and I were astonished at the quality of everyone's sight-reading and performances.
Many of the songs have already become firm Nightwish favourites of mine!"

[GhostHell 537]

So it means that the album is ready for mixing and mastering now? If that's right we may have the album done by the end of the year.

First single is coming in January 2020. I wish we'd get the album a bit earlier, February would be perfect. I am super excited for this album, can barely wait anymore.

[i-slander 25]

32 minutes ago, GhostHell said:

First single is coming in January 2020.

is this confirmed or just speculation? 

But yeah, everything seems to go so fast that I'm not sure why they would push the release until fall...

[Imagineer 963]

5 minutes ago, i-slander said:

is this confirmed or just speculation? 

But yeah, everything seems to go so fast that I'm not sure why they would push the release until fall...

It was confirmed by Stobe Harju.

Fall? The album is coming early spring.

[i-slander 25]

oh yeah sorry I was thinking about this hemisphere haha I meant spring

[Ahasverus 1,073]

There seem to be good vibes all around coming out of this album. Our body is ready. 

[Speckofdust 96]

 

[Adrn_2810 134]

Now, there's just hoping the mastering will be just as -- if not even more -- dynamic (and overall well done) as EFMB and Decades were!

And I hope there will be Instrumental/Orchestral versions again, I really dig those!

[GreatEye 367]

5 hours ago, Speckofdust said:

Some update from Pip W. taken from Ocean Souls Polish fb group:

''Well, the Nightwish London sessions are a wrap and these were definitely among the best we've done together.
Almost every session finished early because of the extraordinary talents of our orchestra, choir and amazing soloists. There were some ridiculously difficult parts for them to play/sing and Tuomas and I were astonished at the quality of everyone's sight-reading and performances.
Many of the songs have already become firm Nightwish favourites of mine!"

I hyped after this sentence. 

[CenturyChild625 470]

I feel releasing the first single in December closer to the hype around Floor, and along with the Decades release would make more sense, but, if we have to wait until January, I guess I will, haha.

I just hope this first single is a bit more of a punch in the face than Élan was. Something that really makes people go "wow" and get hyped for the album. I love EFMB, I just know they can go so much further than that, and that's what I hope we get from this album. The good vibes is a great sign, and has me very hopeful .

[Speckofdust 96]

But maybe as it was with EFMB album around Christmas they will give us surprise with new album title announcement and cover 😁😉

[Imagineer 963]

^That's quite possible and I really hope they do that!

[OneOfTheLostOnes 78]

Floor just posted a picture of being on a video shoot, and the few visible details of het clothing kiiiinda look like Royal Black sketch 🧐

[Werewolf 138]

I kinda can't help but feel like this is going by faster than usual.  Maybe it's just the excitement, though. And as long as the album's good, that's fine of course!

[icebreaker 143]

2 hours ago, Werewolf said:

I kinda can't help but feel like this is going by faster than usual.  Maybe it's just the excitement, though. And as long as the album's good, that's fine of course!

I think it might be because everything is going so smoothly and everyone seems to be on top of their game, for EFMB they had to change Jukka for Kai, for Imaginearum Anette hurt her rib, etc

[JRA 261]

On 10/13/2019 at 9:10 AM, CenturyChild625 said:

Although, I hope we also get some old-school metal,  .

Heh, I've been barking that for a while regarding Nightwish, probably not gonna happen.

[Hevein 121]

Stobe posted a shot from the videoshoot today in his Instagram.

Gosh, I am so happy Stobe is back to collab with NW, no words can describe it.. 

Edit: Link fixed - Serena

[Speckofdust 96]

 

[Ilsche 10]

On 10/13/2019 at 5:46 AM, Spectre said:

I couldn't stop thinking about the signs on the tour poster recently posted by @GhostHell in the 2020 Tour thread:

They are Babylonian cuneiform signs. My working assumption is that the album title is encoded in cuneiform - who knows, maybe it's even a kind of puzzle for the fans? Since we don't seem to have an Assyriologist among us it may indeed be difficult to solve. Some internet research yielded the following results:

The first symbol resembles the cuneiform sign for "man", though the string attached to it at the upper right could obviously change the meaning significantly.



The second sign is the DINGIR sign for "god", "haven" or "deity", sometimes it's also referred to as "star":

Not sure whether this is of relevance here, but one of the greatest works of literature from ancient Babylon is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It includes many interesting and fundamental themes, such as Gilgamesh's futile struggle for immortality, his friend Enkidu's journey to the Netherworld and the Great Flood. One of the chapters of Carl Sagan's book "Contact" also refers to the Gilgamesh epic.

I could see those themes playing well together with dystopian themes inspired by Black Mirror as well as the religious / transcendental issues suggested by other forum members. Really curious how this plays out!

I did some more sleuthing on the cuneiform symbols on the tour poster, and found a pretty likely translation for the whole sequence. All credit goes to u/Zqquu on the cuneiform subreddit, who answered my request for translation help as follows (emphasis added):
 

 

Quote

 

It looks like someone tried to write the signs “LU2.SAL AN” but reversed the SAL sign ... by themselves, LU2 = man, and SAL = woman. The writer could have been attempting “man and woman of the god.”

 

Given what we know about the context and likely thematic thrust of the new album, I'm thinking that a reference to Adam and Eve makes a lot of sense. If we're assuming that this is an allusion to the album title, I wouldn't be surprised if that imagery makes an appearance there.

What would everyone think if the album was called, say, "Out of Eden" or something to that effect?

[Speckofdust 96]

Maybe " God among mankind"  or "Primal Eden "? :p

[Imaginarium 159]

21 hours ago, Adrn_2810 said:

Now, there's just hoping the mastering will be just as -- if not even more -- dynamic (and overall well done) as EFMB and Decades were!

 And I hope there will be Instrumental/Orchestral versions again, I really dig those!

This. The mastering on EFMB was a huge step into the right direction. If we got an album with at least as good production and better songs it would be nice.  

 

4 hours ago, Ilsche said:

I did some more sleuthing on the cuneiform symbols on the tour poster, and found a pretty likely translation for the whole sequence. All credit goes to u/Zqquu on the cuneiform subreddit, who answered my request for translation help as follows (emphasis added):
  

 

Given what we know about the context and likely thematic thrust of the new album, I'm thinking that a reference to Adam and Eve makes a lot of sense. If we're assuming that this is an allusion to the album title, I wouldn't be surprised if that imagery makes an appearance there.

 What would everyone think if the album was called, say, "Out of Eden" or something to that effect?

Good job on that! I would assume that the symbols have to do with the name of the album and tour. Who knows, maybe they even added them as a puzzle for the fans.

[avalonkillah 34]

9 hours ago, Ilsche said:

Given what we know about the context and likely thematic thrust of the new album, I'm thinking that a reference to Adam and Eve makes a lot of sense. If we're assuming that this is an allusion to the album title, I wouldn't be surprised if that imagery makes an appearance there.

What would everyone think if the album was called, say, "Out of Eden" or something to that effect?

Well, I'd think it would be pretty strange to include biblical elements on this album after previously having released an album such as EFMB, which was one big celebration of life from a secular point of view. I'm not saying I'd mind, I'm just saying it'd feel kind of out of the blue.