I don’t like Nightwish. I don’t really dislike Nightwish, either; I guess I mostly just don’t see what the big deal is.

That being said, I know a lot of people do like Nightwish, and for those people, Ian Christe’s Bazillion Points Books has just released Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006 by Mape Ollila. Christe is the author of the excellent history of metal, Sound of the Beast, as well as the equally excellent Van Halen biography, Everybody Wants Some, and Bazillion Point’s was the publisher that released last year’s mind-blowing Swedish Death Metal, which is pretty much the definitive book on… well… y’know. My point being that even as someone who doesn’t appreciate Nightwish, I’m willing to bet this book is quality.

And just to prove it, Bazillion Points has released a free chapter from the book, which you can download here. A press release describes the chapter:

Joining the book in progress at the start of 2000 during the aftermath of Oceanborn, this chapter gives inside perspective on events including Nightwish’s early gigs with Rage and future bassist Marco Hietala’s early band Sinergy; singer Tarja Turunen’s bloody battles with mosquitoes in the wilds of Finland; the band and chief songwriter Tuomas Holopainen’s rarely-discussed and ill-fated flirtation with the Eurovision song contest; and the creation of what would ultimately be the breakthrough Wishmaster CD.

The books is 352 pages, 32 of which are “glossy photos,” so, again, if you’re a Nightwish fan, I have to imagine this book is a must-buy.

Check out the chapter and order the book here.

-AR