"End of All Hope" by Nightwish from Century Child

The title "End of All Hope" sounds familiar, so I click on the song in curiosity. "Is this—the end of—all hope?!" I jerk in my seat, pulse skyrocketing from the hectic beat and clipped chorus. You would think that I'd know to be careful with Nightwish by now. (I promise I won't always review so many Nightwish songs.)

The beat in itself is done as a form of music, with more added. It's unapologetically synthetic in its almost techno declaration of apocalypse. The chorus can be followed without much trouble, but much of the verses of the song is hard to follow from the intentional emphasis.

Nightwish as usual manages to produce lyrics able to give the Christian pause. The narrator has lost innocence and faith, a common premise with what I've heard of Nightwish, and not only from Century Child. The narrator of "End of All Hope" might be suggesting that having "This life unforgiven" "is the birth of all hope", a distinctly unappealing premise. "It will end with a birth" doesn't seem to fit in that, though, so I am again confused.

Beyond that, the lyrics of "End of All Hope" are clean, using metaphor instead of the crass language some artists resort to. Tarja Turunen's operatic voice particularly suits the apocalyptic tone of this compelling song from Century Child.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10

"Ever Dream" by Nightwish from Century Child

Pity I don't know more about music genres; "Ever Dream" is a fun song to classify. It has a definite foundation that I understand as power metal, but above that is something else entirely. It's not just Tarja Turunen's operatic voice that appears again in Century Child, producing a love/hate response in listeners. I'm tempted to call the song "Ever Dream" something comparable to Evanescence's "My Immortal" (band version) meets power metal.

The music to "Ever Dream" is easily among the best I've heard from Nightwish, not that I've heard too many of their songs, but it's certainly better than the music element of even the hit "She Is My Sin". Of the Nightwish songs I've heard so far, "Ever Dream" and "Nemo" rank as my favorites on a purely musical level.

On a lyrical level, however, "Ever Dream" is another story entirely. "Give in for my touch, for my taste, for my lust," Tarja Turunen sings. No, thank you, and I think I'll keep my brother away from you, pretty lady. If "yours I truly wish to be," then why does the narrator seem to be speaking of a one-night fling? Maybe I'm misunderstanding it, but I don't think so. At least it's more oblique than explicit.

Sadly, the "eh" lyrics dramatically lower the quality of an otherwise lovely song.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 5/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 6/10