Oceanborn

Oceanborn is the second album of Finnish quintet Nightwish, released in October 1998. Oceanborn is among their darker albums, making use of the harsh vocals of Tapio Wilska in songs like “The Pharaoh Sails To Orion” and “Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean”.

Most of the album is fantasy-themed with tracks like “Swanheart” and “Walking In The Air” (from the animated motion picture, The Snowman), however other songs such as “Gethsemane” have a more religious feel to them. In addition, there are also some theatrical tracks like “Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean”.

Since the album’s release, “Sacrament of Wilderness” has remained a fan-favorite at concerts, and it’s still performed often. Both “Sleeping Sun” and “Walking in the Air” have also been performed often on shows, but “Walking in the Air” and “Stargazers” have been dropped since vocalist Tarja Turunen’s dismissal in 2005. The “hoi’ing” in “Moondance” is sung by Tuomas Holopainen, Jukka Nevalainen and Tapio Wilska, making it the only Nightwish song with vocals by Jukka. Gethsemane is often mistakenly titled “Gothic Sanctuary”.