The writing and recording of Wishmaster was very fast and devoid of complications, in contrast with what had happened for Oceanborn. The main composer Tuomas Holopainen considers the album "the most distant and least personal in the Nightwish catalogue", despite containing the "mother of all Nightwish songs - Dead Boys' Poem." The image of the dead boy would reappear in several songs of the following albums. Wishmaster was issued on 8 May 2000, a few days earlier than its scheduled release, because the music had leaked onto the Internet.
Music style
Wishmaster's sound continues the bombastic symphonic power metal approach originally featured on Oceanborn, albeit with more emphasis on atmosphere and melody versus speed and heaviness. Perhaps even more so than its predecessor, Wishmaster has a very clear fantasy theme. While commonly considered to be closer to conventional power metal, there is still a great variety with slower songs like "Two for Tragedy" and "Dead Boy's Poem", and more epic pieces like "FantasMic". "The Kinslayer" is written about the victims of the Columbine High School massacre. "Wishmaster" was inspired by the fantasy novel seriesThe Lord of the Rings and Dragonlance, mentioning Elbereth, Lórien, and the Grey Havens from the former; and Dalamar, Raistlin Majere, Gilthanas, the Sla-Mori, Silvara and the Inn of the Last Home from the latter. "FantasMic" is a song about the Disneyanimated movies, particularly their fantasy and fable elements, taking its title from the Disneyland show Fantasmic!.
Live performances
The song "Wishmaster" has remained one of Nightwish's greatest hits, appearing on several best of compilations. Since its release, it has been a recurring track during live performances and was featured on the live DVD End of an Era, recorded in 2005. It is still often performed live despite the band's change of vocalists and is the third most played song with 472 live performances as of December 2018. A new orchestral intro for the track was recorded during the orchestral recording of Dark Passion Play. Other recurring live songs from the album are "She Is My Sin", "Dead Boy's Poem" and "Come Cover Me".
Covers
The song "Wishmaster" was brought back to the metal community's mind by a cover version and video of metal a cappella band van Canto in 2008.
The song "Wishmaster" was remade as a bluegrass version by the Finnish country band Steve 'N' Seagulls and appears on their album "Brothers in Farms" released in 2016.
