WINTERSUN Bassist Jukka Koskinen officially joins NIGHTWISH

Finnish symphonic metal titans NIGHTWISH split with longtime bassist Marco Hietala back in 2021 and brought on WINTERSUN bass player Jukka Koskinen for live shows and touring duties. Now NIGHTWISH has announced Koskinen has joined the band as a full time member, making him the second member of WINTERSUN to join NIGHTWISH following drummer Kai Hahto, who joined in 2019.

“We’re delighted to announce our dear friend Jukka Koskinen is officially inaugurated as a member of the band,” says NIGHTWISH. “We’ve been incredibly thankful to have him on our side while touring and it only feels natural to have him join the band officially. Now it’s time to recharge our batteries for October when we head to South America.”

NIGHTWISH are currently working on the follow-up to their 2019 album “Human. :II: Nature.“. “I’ve got all the songs done during the pandemic. [I thought] I might as well use that time,” said keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen in a recent interview. “We listened to the demos for the first time with the whole band about three weeks ago when we were in America. Things are rolling.”

According to Tuomas, who acts as the group’s main songwriter, he wrote the new songs over the course of a year. “We’re hitting the studio next summer, so in about a year from now” is when we can expect new material from NIGHTWISH. Touching on the new music, Holopainen said, “lyrically there’s a couple of things that reflects the pandemic, but not in the way you would expect.”