Listen to ultra-symphonic surprise new Nightwish song The Day Of…

Nightwish in 2024
(Image credit: Tim Tronckoe)

Nightwish have released new single The Day Of….

The symphonic and choir-stacked track, put out today (August 8), is the second taste of the Finnish band’s upcoming album Yesterwynde, which will be released on September 20 via Nuclear Blast.

Listen to The Day Of… below.

Nightwish were formed in 1996 by keyboardist and lead songwriter Tuomas Holopainen. They’ve been fronted by current singer Floor Jansen since 2012 and released nine studio albums overall. Their latest one, Human. :||: Nature., came out in 2020.

The band announced last year that they would not tour following the release of their then-unannounced 10th album. In a statement, they chalked the live hiatus up to “personal” reasons and explained that it had nothing to do with Jansen’s then-pregnancy. The singer gave birth to her second daughter in October 2023.

In an interview with Metal Hammer last month, Holopainen said that Nightwish still don’t plan to tour after the release of Yesterwynde.

“The reasons [for the live break] are personal, we’re not going to go into it, but it was something that had to be done for this band to continue,” the keyboardist told journalist Dave Everley. “There’s no bad blood between the members, nothing like that. We just have to take a long breather.”

Holopainen also revealed he is unclear on how long Nightwish’s live break will be, though he was certain Nightwish will release more music in the future.

“We just signed a multi-album deal with Nuclear Blast,” he said, “so that is evidence there are going to be more albums in future. Nightwish are definitely not going to stop, so everybody stop worrying. We just need a breather from touring.”

In marketing materials, Holopainen describes Yesterwynde as “a fantastical voyage through time, memory, and the better angels of human nature”. Nightwish released the album’s lead single, Perfume Of The Timeless, on May 21.

The Day Of... - YouTube The Day Of... - YouTube
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Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.