_{The Dark Element is the new band featuring former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon and they released their self-titled debut album through Frontiers Music on 10th November. Anette has teamed up with Finnish guitarist Jani Liimatainen who was formerly with Sonata Arctica. With that artistic backbone, you get what you’d anticipate – a great symphonic metal album! I played the track “Dead To Me” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 3rd November.}

 

_{Anette Olzon fronted Nightwish from 2007 – 2012, having previously fronted the band Alyson Avenue. With Nightwish, she released the albums “Dark Passion Play” and “Imaginareum” and in 2014 released her solo album “Shine”. Jani Liimatainen was one of the founding members of Sonata Arctica in 1995, but he departed in 2007. Since then he has worked on a number of projects including Cain’s Offering alongside Stratovarious vocalist Timo Kotipelto.}

_{Olzon and  Liimatainen are joined by Jonas Kuhlberg on bass and Jani ‘Hurtsi’ Hurula  on drums. There are also appearances by Jarkko Lahti on piano on two tracks with growls on “Dead To Me” being provided by Niilo Sevänen.}

_{Check out the band’s Facebook page for more info – https://www.facebook.com/TheDarkElement/}

 

_{There are 11 tracks on the album. The latest video to be released is for the track “The Ghost and the Reaper”.}

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_{About “NI Rocks Recommends”}

_{The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation to go check something out, not a traditional “review”!}

_{My musical tastes cover most things rock; from the not too melodic to the not too heavy. The albums that I’ll be recommending are those that you’ll hear me playing tracks from on my shows on Rock Radio NI.}

_{Check out NI Rocks on Facebook – www.facebook.com/NIRocks or Twitter - www.twitter.com/NIrelandRocks}

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