I’ve often thought that Tuomas Huolopainen- the mastermind behind NIGHTWISH, a.k.a. “THE best symphonic metal band there is”- has his head shoved up his own arse far too often for his own good. All you have to do is listen to tracks like “The Poet and the Pendulum”, “Meadows of Heaven”, “Song of Myself”, or “The Greatest Show on Earth” to realise that he has NO ONE around to tell him, “enough already!”.

Thankfully, he is also an incredible musician and composer. And he has never shown it more than on what has to be the single best symphonic metal track ever recorded:

Oh, but if you thought that version was amazing, wait until you hear it sung by one Floor Jansen:

Yeah. She really is that awesome. I’ve seen her perform live with both REVAMP and NIGHTWISH, and… well, what can one say, other than “WOW”.

I’m not overly fond of girl-fronted metal bands. There are only a handful that I bother listening to, and most of them have very uneven output- AMARANTHE, BATTLE BEAST, and WITHIN TEMPTATION spring to mind immediately, as do a host of other lesser lights. But I make a big exception for pretty much anything that Floor Jansen does. She has one of the most versatile voices that I’ve ever heard- male or female, in any genre.