Days after Floor Jansen described NIGHTWISH as being on "a temporary hold" with "no communication about when something's gonna happen", the man who actually writes the songs has supplied the missing detail.
Tuomas Holopainen has told the U.K.'s Metal Hammer that six tracks are finished for the band's eleventh studio album.
"I feel more inspired than ever — proof of that is that I've already got six new NIGHTWISH songs done," the 49-year-old keyboardist and chief songwriter said. "Every time I sit in front of my keyboard, I'm, like, 'Ah, yeah, this is great! Just wait till everyone hears this.' It's exhilarating."
He was equally specific about sequencing, and about the one thing fans keep asking. "Next year is too early to be going back on tour. The year after, possibly? I want to do another album before any live shows, and that's definitely happening. We've already reserved things for that next year."
"Reserved things" reads as studio time booked for 2027 — which would put the follow-up to 2024's "Yesterwynde" in motion roughly three years after its predecessor, and any return to the stage no earlier than 2028.
The two statements are not actually in conflict. Jansen was talking about the calendar, which really is empty; Holopainen is talking about the work, which is not. What has been missing from the hiatus is any public sign that new material existed at all. Now there is one.
The break was collective and deliberate. Multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley explained in 2024 that the band had seen burnout coming even before the pandemic. "We realized that we were in danger of burning out of doing too much. So we made the decision, and extraordinarily, the decision to have this hiatus, this time off, is for all of us. It has no time limit."
He was careful about how it should be read. "It's not terminal. It's an extended time off." He also floated a date that now looks close to Holopainen's: "I can envisage some more live work probably in 2027, which is the 30th anniversary of the band."
None of the members have been idle. Holopainen released "III – Candles & Beginnings" with AURI, alongside his wife Johanna Kurkela and Donockley, in August 2025. Jansen's solo album "Hytress" arrives January 15, 2027 via REVAMP Music / Warner Music, with a full European and South American club tour behind it — which, incidentally, makes 2027 a crowded year for at least one member.
"Yesterwynde" was released in September 2024 through Nuclear Blast, the tenth NIGHTWISH album and the follow-up to 2020's "Human. :II: Nature." Bassist Jukka Koskinen of WINTERSUN became a full member in August 2022.