Nightwish felt ‘violated’ over track leak

Nightwish mainman Tuomas Holopainen says he and the band felt “violated” after their track Elan was leaked last week.

The song was posted online ahead of its official release– a move which angered the group, leading them to make fans aware of their displeasure on Facebook and call out the individual responsible. This sparked a lengthy and heated debate resulting in the band issuing a statement explaining their position.

Holopainen tells TeamRock: “When Elan was leaked, the whole band was really upset and we ended up being vocal about it. Now I look back at the whole thing, I think it’s good that we brought this thing into the daylight because it’s a big problem these days. Not because of money but because it kills the mystery.

“Maybe we could have taken a little breather before acting in the heat of the moment. Looking back, I would have done a few things differently. But you just felt so violated – even though it’s very common and happens to almost all bands, but that’s not the point – it’s still wrong.”

He adds: “We just wanted to make a statement about that because it even seems many people honestly don’t see anything wrong with spreading unreleased material.”

Nightwish launched the official video for the track last week, which is lifted from their upcoming eighth album Endless Forms Most Beautiful. It’s released on March 30 via Nuclear Blast.

They’ll play at London’s Wembley Arena on December 19.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful tracklist

  1. Shudder Before The Beautiful 2. Weak Fantasy 3. Elan 4. Yours Is An Empty Hope 5. Our Decades In the Sun 6. My Walden 7. Endless Forms Most Beautiful 8. Edema Ruh 9. Alpenglow 10. The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula 11. The Greatest Show On Earth
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Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.