Nightwish Fans Need to Fuck Right Off About Tuomas Holopainen About Now
So, here’s a thing you should know about me. I’m a ranter. I like to swear and vent my frustrations out, but I don’t do it online because, from 2011 onward, I’ve been a music journalist (semi-retired these days). As a journalist, it has always been my goal to be objective, kind, respectful, and to never make it about me, my needs, my desire for validation, or anything like that. I was in it to support artists more anything else, so when it came to anything irritating, the motto was save the big emotions for fiction, keep it out of journalism. This is why you’d be hard-pressed to find any scornful negative reviews from me that shit-talk the bands.
Even more rarely will I tell people, broadly, to fuck off. It’s not a particularly effective form of communication if you’re trying to actually get people to open their eyes and change their behavior. Shame isn’t an effective learning tool. I care about making meaningful change, not just buffing my own feeling of superiority.
That said, there is also a reason that people have been calling me “Bear” since high school.
I don’t necessarily love the volatile lunatic within me, but I’ve never been able to file down the teeth or claws. They’re a distinct part of who I am, and I accept that and embrace my inner angry mama grizzly-ness. As much as I wanted to be Muumimamma when I grew up, my personality is more akin to Pikku Myy.
And when you have this volatile inner world, like I have, sometimes people on the internet can make you so broadly mad that you need to deal with it somehow, and as someone who best vents my feelings via rant… well, here we are. More than once I’ve been told that I should have been the host of “You Know What Really Grinds My Gears” from that Family Guy episode.
Today is one of those days. Perhaps, then, you can forgive my impropriety and deeply unprofessional attitude and hostile phrasing this once. I promise that this is not how I actually do journalism, on the rare occasions I still do it.
It’s just… FUCK this ignorance is so irritating, and I was encouraged that people who feel the same way would perhaps enjoy this, so I hope this also helps you vent your annoyance over this garbage.
So let’s just say I don’t really condone articles like this, but I’m also not perfect and need to be a bit mean once in a while, to get this out of my head if nothing else.
You know who/what I’m really fucking sick of right now?
Nightwish “fans.”
No, I’m not talking about the people who love the band and are excited for news about them. Those fans? You can count me amongst them. These fans have intelligent conversations, discuss songs they love and songs that don’t hit as hard for them, can accept that bands change and evolve with time and experience, and can even admit when they don’t like an album or song and not make that into their entire personality. Sometimes we even congregate on docks in the countryside at midnight to hold hands and listen to new music and it’s great.
So, as I said, I’m not talking about these people. These people are excellent fun and you should try being one of them. We always have a blast when we get together, regardless of whether it’s for Nightwish or any of the side projects or adjacent acts. Being decent and having fun is actually awesome, but you probably wouldn’t know that because you’ve become a bottom dwelling joy leech bent on eradicating the happiness of others to make up for your own miserable lives.
I’m actually not even talking about the people who are too obsessed with the band. You know, the ones who get divorced so they can marry Tuomas Holopainen or the creeps who are constantly thirsting over Floor Jansen, or the people who get onto Reddit talking about how worried they are about Emppu Vuorinen (or whoever) for reasons that clearly display the fact that they’ve been paying way too much attention to things that are none of their business. I mean, yeah, they need to take a step back and ease off the parasocial too, for sure, and these types also drive me nuts, but they’re also not who I’m talking about today. These people at least love the band, for better or for worse (it’s mostly worse, let’s be honest).
Today, I’m talking about the legion of ignorant lunatics with an alarming degree of parasocial vitriol that swarm the band’s socials like a hoard of attention-starved mosquitos every time there’s a new announcement.
You people are the reason this world sucks so badly. You just love hate for the sake of hate and can’t stop from leaping to baseless conclusions from not-remotely-enough information as if you’re the expert on people you’ve never met, and have nothing better to do than… what exactly? What do you want to get out of this? We all know that bands and labels don’t listen to shit like this, so what are you trying to achieve? Do you need to feel big and tough and be alpha loser on the internet? Do you feel warm and validated for having screamed into a void that doesn’t give a shit? Touch grass, you fucking losers.
So what’s the Nightwish drama du jour, you might be asking? Well, as I understand it, fairly recently, vocalist Floor Jansen did an interview where she was asked if Nightwish has any news (or some such), and her answer was that no, she doesn’t know about anything planned.
However, the band recently announced on August 28th that they have a 30th anniversary compilation coming out and in recent interviews (including my own), Tuomas has admitted to having 6-7 songs already written for the next album.
Normal human beings would be excited about this. But Nightwish “fans”? Nah, they love drama for the sake of drama and they also love getting butthurt and taking sides in pretend fights that they concocted. Namely, there have been some baseless rumors (yes, baseless) that the band is breaking up, Floor and Tuomas hate each other, and all sorts of things that are derived from rumor and (poor) speculation and “someone who knows one of them told this to someone who told this to someone else.” Unless you heard it from the band’s mouth, assume that it’s not true. Also, don’t be the guy who spreads rumors without actual sources. That guy also sucks.
Here’s a fun story: I met a photographer once who had regularly worked with a musician over the years, who told everyone who would listen that this musician was a meth addict, because apparently he did meth and he “could smell it backstage” once. Well, my cub was an addict so I’m pretty familiar with their behavior, and I’ve also been on tour with that artist twice, so I can assure you that if he was an addict of some sort, I’d have picked up on it. He’s not. He’s actually a very chill guy, and meth addicts are notorious for not being very chill.
Point being, even people who’ve met the band and spent time with them also don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about half the time. So unless the source is the band, management, or label, assume it’s not true by default, no matter how much of a drama leech you are.
In short: most of the random gossipy bullshit you hear about Nightwish is almost certainly untrue.
So, what then, you might be asking, have you been missing? Well, I’ve worked in the Finnish metal industry for a good while now and even though I’m mostly retired these days, save for artists I still find interesting (which is largely related to their kindness and how they treat me, as much as the music), I still know how things work. And what’s become abundantly clear to me is that most people do not understand how the music industry works, any better than they understand that people from different countries don’t all talk and behave the same way.
Many people are hatefully lashing out at Tuomas for this upcoming anniversary compilation and I have to tell you, you all sound like illiterate morons. You see, while bands write albums, it is the record label who generally puts out things like anniversary albums, compilations, live releases, and best-ofs. Tuomas has managed to build a career around being a composer and you seem to have forgotten that composers write music, they are not producers or distributors or managers. Nightwish are very well established, which means that Tuomas does not need to have his fingers in everything the band produces. Bands are businesses, after all, which people seem to continuously forget. I’m quite certain that he does very little of the actual management of the band, because that’s literally someone else’s job. He’s not thinking about how old the band is because he’s busy doing his job, which is to make new music. People are out there screaming at him, very specifically, for being disrespectful to fans re: this anniversary release, for its content (or lack of content from the previous singers). What makes you think any of this was his idea? I’m not even sure if he decides which live shows get recorded. So please, take your arrogant, entitled ignorance and shove it where it belongs, like a Fox News chatroom.
Next, I’ve known about this new release for a few weeks now, but I haven’t said a word about it to anyone because of a thing that we like to call “embargo.” To those of you who are new to this word, it means that information is being shared with relevant medias and whatnot, but that the information is not allowed to be published before a certain time. If you break an embargo, at best you might get blacklisted from future releases and at worst, you could actually get sued by the label, so embargoes are pretty serious business.
The embargo for this compilation was for noon on August 28th, 2026, when the press releases were officially sent out, but the interviews were done a while beforehand, which means that the interview Floor did, when she said there was nothing planned, was from long before the embargo ended. I’m fairly certain she wasn’t allowed to talk about new music, but even if she was, what exactly would she have had to say? There are still no official plans. There is no upcoming tour announcement. There’s no release day for any upcoming singles. What do you expect her to have said? Everyone’s losing their shit over this, as if Floor has somehow been put in a separate group chat from the rest of the band and they’re all withholding information from her. The reality of this is that she was almost definitely not allowed to talk about anything relevant at the time of that interview, and THIS IS NORMAL. Gawd, you people read way too much into the stupidest shit without having any idea of the bigger picture. Could you possibly be any more sheltered and arrogant? It’s embarrassing.
By the way, again, the embargoes also aren’t the band’s decision. If you don’t like information restrictions or timeframes for releases or anything along those lines, stop screaming at Tuomas and start screaming at Nuclear Blast. Although, don’t bother because they don’t give a shit about what you think any more than Tuomas does. So, I guess my actual advice is to STFU, because no one cares that you’re having a tantrum because a band you liked once outgrew you.
There’s also something you should all keep in mind, which is cultural differences. Tuomas is Finnish. By default (though not always, everyone’s an individual), Finns are quiet, introverted, and keep to themselves. We often joke that a Finnish extrovert is one who makes eye contact with you. In interviews, sure, Tuomas might come across as disinterested or a bit flat or emotionless, which could maybe translate to arrogance if you’re stretching your imagination as far as it goes, but the reality is that that’s how the average person in Finland is. We call it the “Finnish stoneface” for a reason. Smiles are precious resources in these parts, saved only for the best of moments.
Conversely, Dutch people are quite broadly known for being very blunt and straightforward and they tend not to mince words. This has given Floor a bit of an unwarranted reputation in the past already for saying things about songs on “Yesterwynde” that people found quite rude, but the reality is that this is just how Dutch people talk. They’re honest about things and don’t sugarcoat very much. They don’t waste time holding your hand, they tell it straight. Holding people to your personal cultural standards when those people come from different countries is weird of you, not them. I suppose you’ve never had to think outside your own bubble of experience before though.
I was once selling merch in the Netherlands and a local venue staff member came up to me to tell me, over the course of a quick chat, that the only thing worse than merch girls was music journalists, knowing full well that I was both. My American friend (who had introduced us) was astonished, but this lady and I had a good laugh over it. It’s not like I disagreed with her, after all.
And while I’m in this neighborhood, can you all please chill out about the lack of tour for the last album? I get it, you’re disappointed. Guess what, we’re also disappointed that George R.R. Martin might never finish A Song of Ice and Fire. But eventually, you’re just going to have to accept the fact that this happened (or didn’t happen) and get over it. Are you still a baby crying because you didn’t get your candy, because that’s what you sound like. Move on with your lives, it’s been 2 fucking years already. You’ll hear some new songs live the next time they tour. It was very obvious from pretty much every interview from 2024 until now that Tuomas was getting pretty tired of the touring scene and now we’re hearing that the break has really invigorated and inspired him. Would you rather him keep getting burnt out and exhausted (your shitty attitudes are surely not helping there either, by the way), or do you want him to be happy and inspired and making music? Pick a fucking lane. He knows himself, he knows his needs, he knows his mental health, and he does what’s best for him. And it worked. You’re getting your new album. The band isn’t secretly over. So stop whining and simmer down, for fuck’s sake. Ask yourselves what would make you happy, because you seem to just like acting petulant. I know toddlers with more maturity.
Another thing I need you all to shut your goddamned traps over is your baseless perception of Tuomas’ “overinflated” ego. Look, first of all, his skin is so thick by now after 30 years that I can promise you two things: (1) he doesn’t need me out here white knighting for him, and (2) you are wasting your breath trying to get a reaction. In my 2024 interview, he said he likes it when he gets emotional reactions from fans, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. Besides, even if he was sensitive to it, he’s so offline and spending time doing what he loves that he probably doesn’t read anything people write about him anymore anyway. After all, he’s also said that the only people he really and truly cares about satisfying are his band members. Beyond that, he’s just doing what makes him happy, what sounds good to him, and if you like it, great, and if not, find another fucking band. He’s not your personal fucking minstrel, so stop acting like every song he writes needs to be for you. If you haven’t been like me, slowly morphing into an existential hippy who loves to ponder the nature of existence, this band just might not be for you anymore. Accept this change and go listen to something new. There’s no shortage out there of other bands.
Most of you out there who are making these grand speculations and observations about this man’s ego are, to put it bluntly, stupid as absolute shit. You’ve never met him. You are not psychology professionals! You are random dipshits on the internet with overinflated self-images. Grow up.
I, however, have met him a few times. I’ve been interviewing him going back to around the first Auri release. He even came on my podcast last year and we just shot the shit about whatever geek stuff we felt like talking about for two hours. I’m not saying I know him personally by any means, nor is it my intention to name drop for clout. The point I’m making with this is that I at least know a little bit about him as a person because we’ve met and talked and connected over mutual interests. Most of you have not had that pleasure, but you act like you know everything about him. Do you know what that makes you look like? (Hint: it starts with “I” and ends with “DIOT”).
Again, I know he doesn’t need me here acting like his personal online savior, and I guarantee that I probably get angrier about this stuff than he does, but I am a bit of a defender of good people, so it really irks me (to say the least) when I hear people making up bullshit about a person they’ve never met. Especially when that person has been, in my experience, nothing but lovely across the board. I dislike injustice and I also get fed up with being quiet about it for the sake of professionalism sometimes. No, Tuomas doesn’t smile a lot, even when he’s in a good mood, so he’s pretty intimidating at first, but he’s very warm when people treat him with respect.
As an artist, he’s never had any reason to be nice to me, but he always has been anyway (probably because I never ask anything of him that I’m not booked for). I know what journalists are like. There’s a reason a lot of artists keep their relationships with us strictly professional. Most of us don’t have degrees in journalism or music theory, we’re just assholes with opinions. I’ve never once faulted any artist for keeping me at arm’s length because I’m a shithead journalist, even though I dedicated my career to trying my best to not be that guy. And considering the way you fools behave, he’s got every right to be suspcious of everyone out there. But Tuomas and the people around them (Troy and Kai, for example) are amongst the most lovely people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with over the past 15 or so years. And I’ve met a lot of people in the metal scene. I can tell you who some of the assholes are, who some of the abusers are, and I can assure you, Tuomas is not among them. Please go find deserving targets for your unresolved personal issues.
If this is even too parasocial-sounding from my end (I told you I was ranting), to put it in a more professional sense, he has never been anything other than a pleasure to work with. I have been a music journalist covering the metal scene in Finland and Europe for a reasonable amount of time now and I’ve met many of my heroes, and of all of them, Nightwish have been amongst the most professional, respectful, and kind. Period.
Egotistical people love attention, so what is it that makes you think that Tuomas, who clearly hates being in the spotlight, is so full of himself? I’ve seen bands promoting their debut album act a thousand times more entitled and arrogant. He’s a nice person who loves the fans that give him the ability to keep making music. My unhinged fan friends who have followed Auri around to multiple shows over the past two summers will back me up on this. If you’ve actually fucking met him, the only possible way you’d think he’s arrogant or full of himself is if you’ve never met another Finnish person before. And hey, I get it, when I first moved here, I thought all the artists were rude AF until I realized that this is, again, just how Finns are as a baseline, and anything more is bonus. There’s a reason I didn’t do almost any interviews between 2011-2015: because I was scared to have yet another Finnish artist be cold to me and disappoint me. It took me more than half of my career to stop taking the lack of emotion personally.
If you’re too up in your own ass to pay actual attention, you might realize that Tuomas is a Romantic and a poet. I mean that in the literary sense, hence the capital letter. Go read any of the Romance-era writers like Tennyson, Coleridge, Thoreau (he wrote Walden, by the way, so you know Tuomas has experience with this era of literature), or their ilk, and you’ll find that they all wrote beautiful poetry and stories and they used all of the most descriptive words when doing so. Tuomas, much like those writers, is a poet. He likes language and he’s good at it. Poets are, by default, people who see beauty and darkness in the every day and express that as vividly as they can. Using floral language is kinda sorta their whole fucking wheelhouse. If you don’t like that, go listen to Guns ‘n’ Roses or some other straightforward band. There’s no need to insult the man just because he’s more talented in his second language that you probably are in your native tongue.
Oh and hey, one more thing? In case you missed the news, Floor has a solo album coming out. It’s called “Hytress” and it’s set for release on January 15th, 2027. In case you’ve forgotten how your brain works, I’d love to plug it in and remind you of the #1 way to overshadow pretty much anything artistically is to talk about Nightwish. If she has a new solo album coming out in 6ish months, WHY THE FUCK WOULD SHE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT NIGHTWISH!? Why in the seven-to-nine hells would she sabotage her own release?
But what really makes me nuts is the flagrant ignorance that people are flaunting, while acting like they know everything, when they have exactly zero experience with how the music industry functions. Fans don’t know shit about how bands are actually run and managed, they don’t know shit about what labels do, and they don’t know shit about how album releases and interviews work… honestly, fans don’t know shit about fuck most of the time, but they act like they know everything about everyone involved because they watched, like, three 20 minute interviews. Once again, we call this “parasocial” and it’s unhealthy. Literally. Go ask a therapist if you don’t believe me.
Do I think this article’s going to change anyone’s mind or make anyone step off? Nah, probably not. The people who act this way are very clearly the people who leap to conclusions and don’t self-reflect, take a breath, or take accountability for their own fucking idiocy. They probably didn’t read this far down. But for anyone who actually does care about being even a tiny bit sensible and respectful to the artists who once brought you joy, perhaps this article has clarified a few things for you:
Tuomas was not the mastermind behind this 30th anniversary release. That would be the label, so if you have a beef with it, take it up with Nuclear Blast. But regardless, he is obliged to promote the release as “the guy behind the band.” None of you care what the label or management think.
Floor’s interview, when she said that nothing was planned, was pre-embargo. She probably wasn’t allowed to talk about anything at the time, and even if she could have, she wouldn’t have had anything official to announce then, re: album releases or touring.
Differences in how people look and behave and phrase things might be cultural, so if you have no experience with the countries these people come from, stop judging the way they speak or how they talk about things.
Tuomas is not a fucking egomaniac. He is easily one of the most down-to-earth and humble artists in this fucking country and you all need to fuck right off about calling him maestro in a condescending way. It got old forever ago.
Floor has a solo album coming out, so talking about Nightwish would be detrimental from a marketing perspective.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to listen to some Nightwish, because I actually like this band.
Stay balanced🖕🙄
