{"id":386,"date":"2026-08-15T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/15\/ive-been-struggling-to-free-my-mind-ive-learned-so-much-finally-its-happening-how-tarja-turunen-brought-a-decade-of-development-to-bear-on-diverse-album\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:00:00","slug":"ive-been-struggling-to-free-my-mind-ive-learned-so-much-finally-its-happening-how-tarja-turunen-brought-a-decade-of-development-to-bear-on-diverse-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/15\/ive-been-struggling-to-free-my-mind-ive-learned-so-much-finally-its-happening-how-tarja-turunen-brought-a-decade-of-development-to-bear-on-diverse-album\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019ve been struggling to free my mind. I\u2019ve learned so much. Finally it\u2019s happening\u201d: How Tarja Turunen brought a decade of development to bear on diverse album Frisson Noir"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Flamenco, tango, disappearing people and a <\/em>Red Hot Chili Pepper<\/em><\/a>? Those unlikely ingredients combine on the heaviest album yet from <\/em>Tarja Turunen<\/em><\/a>. Finland\u2019s symphonic prog metal queen tells <\/em>Prog about swimming away from the shore, finally getting to know her former <\/em>Nightwish<\/em><\/a> bandmate <\/em>Marko Hietala<\/em><\/a>, and writing without fear on <\/em>Frisson Noir.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to bring back the riffs,\u201d says Tarja Turunen. In that case, mission accomplished. Frisson Noir <\/em>is the heaviest release yet from the Finnish soprano, whose return to riffage was born from the desire to replicate the energy of her live performances in the studio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I perform live with my guys, my band sounds heavy,\u201d she says. \u201cI have a big voice, so I want them to sound heavy to support me. I feel comfortable in that wall of sound. I\u2019ve been missing that sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been seven years since Turunen\u2019s last foray into prog metal with In The Raw<\/em>. After self producing that album, she wanted someone who could build that wall of sound she hears onstage. The right man for the job was Neal Avron, whose production and mixing credits include Fall Out Boy<\/a>, Linkin Park<\/a> and Serj Tankian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the best decision ever,\u201d says Turunen. \u201cNeal did an amazing job. It was challenging for him to work with a symphonic orchestra and choir; all these symphonic songs, progressive songs, but he loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Turunen\u2019s symphonic and progressive proclivities are fully displayed on the first single, the 10-minute epic At Sea<\/em>. \u201cWhen I\u2019m writing the songs I\u2019m not really looking at the timer: I\u2019m really letting myself go nowadays, which is a very beautiful feeling,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Pushing her label to release the longest song first was a gamble that paid off.\u201cThe fans really sat down to listen, which people do not do nowadays. We do not have the patience any more to listen or pay attention. It\u2019s like everything is fed to us. The whole world, we miss so much because we don\u2019t take the time, so I felt like I wanted to give my fans an experience, let\u2019s call it, to feel a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the title implies, At Sea<\/em> was inspired an environment where Turunen, a keen scuba diver, can leave her worries behind. \u201cIt\u2019s a majestic, powerful, eternal, incredible thing. I feel like I\u2019m somehow connected with it,\u201d says the singer, who lives near the coast in Marbella.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel I need it, and I miss it when I\u2019m gone. In At Sea<\/em>, the story is about leaving the safety of the shore and facing the storm without knowing the outcome \u2013 whether you\u2019ll survive or not \u2013 but nevertheless you go for it. I wanted to make people think, even though the risks might be horrifying, you should still take that leap. It\u2019s a sign of the internal strength that we all have. We just need to find it. I feel like I\u2019m like the song itself; I put it out without knowing the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full progressive scope of Frisson Noir<\/em> can be appreciated in the array of guest performers, from Cradle Of Filth<\/a>\u2019s Dani Filth<\/a> on I Don\u2019t Care<\/em> to Apocalyptica<\/a>, who bring their strings to Tango<\/em>. \u201cWe Finns love tango,\u201d Turunen says. \u201cI remember, in my youth, dancing tango with my dad at summer parties; it\u2019s a very important part of Finnish culture.\u201d <\/p>\n

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She invited viral shamisen sensation Sayo Komada to play on The Trace Outlives<\/em>, a song inspired by j\u014dhatsu, the Japanese word that describes people who choose to vanish from their established lives, often due to a sense of shame. \u201cSome organisations help people disappear,\u201d Turunen says. \u201cIt caught my attention; I wanted to write about the effects when something like this happens, and the emotions involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to find something from Japan to include in the song, then I discovered the shamisen, which is and incredible instrument \u2013 it\u2019s like a percussive guitar. Komasa is insanely talented, playing heavy metal with the shamisen in Japan. It was beautiful that she took part.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Back then I felt, \u2018It\u2019s not the time for this song.\u2019 I\u2019ve grown. I\u2019ve moved around, met beautiful people. I found that song and I feel it now<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Anemoia<\/em> \u2013 meaning nostalgia for a time or place that one has never experienced \u2013 showcases the playing of flamenco guitarist Juli\u00e1n Bedmar.\u201cWho the hell uses flamenco guitars in a metal album?\u201d Turunen asks. \u201cI do! The fact is, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n

While Sayo Komada was halfway round the world, Bedmar was much closer to home. \u201cI found him 10 minutes from my place here. I sent him the piano demo and he played insanely beautiful guitar over it. Why flamenco? This is my 10th year in Spain; my family found a beautiful home here, people that we love and care for. Flamenco is a huge cultural aspect of Andalucia, and I wanted to say \u2018thank you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Against The Odds<\/em> is a song a decade in the making. It was originally in contention for 2016\u2019s The Shadow Self<\/em><\/a>, an album that features Chad Smith<\/a> guesting on drums. He was brought into the sessions by bassist Kevin Chown, his fellow funkster in Chad Smith\u2019s Bombastic Meatbats.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBack then I felt, \u2018Hm, it\u2019s not the time for this song,\u2019\u201d says Turunen. \u201cWhen I write a song on piano, I start producing it, I send it to my musicians, they come with their input; the song changes and then we mix it. Then we go to the live performances and the song is changing all the time. My emotions also change \u2013 so the song lives; it evolves naturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the years since The Shadow Self<\/em> I\u2019ve grown. I\u2019ve moved around, met beautiful people. Everything in my art is about my life, where I am, how I feel. I found that song and I feel it now. Why not then? There must have been a reason; but now it feels like \u2018Yeah, let\u2019s go!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Leap Of Faith<\/em> reunites Turunen with fellow Nightwish alumnus Marko Hietala for the second time, after they duetted on Hietala\u2019s song Left On Mars<\/em> last year. She says collaborating has presented the chance \u201cto get to know him for the first time ever. He\u2019s not the same guy he was; neither am I. We are somewhere else now in our lives, and it\u2019s been really nice to reconnect.\u201d They\u2019ve toured together, \u201csupporting each other like never before, I mean, seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Frisson Noir<\/em> is an album of grand drama, rich colours and textures, unafraid to take risks emotionally and stylistically. For Turunen \u2013 who studied at The Sibelius Academy in Finland and Germany\u2019s Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik Karlsruhe \u2013 the journey has been about embracing the freedom to follow her instincts and realise her vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve been struggling with: to free my mind when it comes to compositions,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve learned so much. finally I feel it\u2019s happening; that I\u2019m becoming free with my music; it\u2019s a feeling I don\u2019t need to be afraid of. There are no mistakes I can make here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope I can come up with something great in the future, but for now I\u2019m just happy with the album. Let\u2019s see what people think \u2013 whether they like it or hate it. But I\u2019m happy with everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frisson Noir<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong><\/a>is on sale now.<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flamenco, tango, disappearing people and a Red Hot Chili Pepper? Those unlikely ingredients combine on the heaviest album yet from Tarja Turunen. Finland\u2019s symphonic prog metal queen tells Prog about swimming away from the shore, finally getting to know her former Nightwish bandmate Marko Hietala, and writing without fear on Frisson Noir. \u201cI want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realrockrevival.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}