Finnish metallers Nightwish are set to release their anxiously-awaited new album, Imaginaerum, on November 30th in Finland and December 2nd in Europe via Nuclear Blast Records. Mainman Tuomas Holopainen has just written a short Imaginaerum update with first impressions from the set of the film that is currently in production and coincides with the album:

“Yesterday I had the chance to walk into the studio for the first time and see the set-up, props and dresses, and meet the actors. I was blown away by everything I saw, from the dedication of the people working there to the otherworldly atmosphere of the different stages. I had my make-up tests and dress fittings done, and truly enjoyed seeing myself as a gray and wrinkled 50-year-old. Ha! 4 years in the making, and finally Imaginaerum is coming alive in a most beautiful way. I can’t help feeling completely awestruck and grateful for the chance of doing something that was nothing but an insane (but sincere) idea a few years ago.”

The Imaginaerum film will be released sometime after the release of the album in 2012.

“Imaginaerum tells the story of an elderly composer, Tom, who suffers from severe dementia. As he has had the disease for years and has regressed into childhood, he remembers practically nothing from his adult life. His music, friends, all his past including the memory of his daughter are a blur in his fragile mind. All he has left is the imagination of a ten year old boy. As he drifts away into coma, it seems impossible to get back what he has lost. Or is it?”

Nightwish recently revealed the artwork and tracklisting for the album. About the cover Holopainen remarked:

“Originally, this was supposed to be the centerfold image of the album but once I and some mates saw the final image, we immediately knew that the hunt for the actual cover artwork was over. I believe this is Toxic Angel’s finest piece of work yet, capturing the deepest essence of what Imaginaerum is all about. The power of imagination and places of wordless wonders, magic and awe, of longing and the surreal. I emphasized from the start that not a single living thing should be seen in the picture, and Toxic was able to create that sublime but desolate, “all this waiting for you, and you only” – feeling. All you need is the courage to enter.”

Imaginaerum tracklist:

‘Taikatalvi’
‘Storytime’
‘Ghost River’
‘Slow, Love, Slow’
‘I Want My Tears Back’
‘Scaretale’
‘Arabesque’
‘Turn Loose The Mermaids’
‘Rest Calm’
‘The Crow, The Owl And The Dove’
‘Last Ride Of The Day’
‘Song Of Myself’
‘Imaginaerum’

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