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Tarja ‘Neverlight (Full Orchestra Version)’ from ‘Left In The Dark’

Listen to the full orchestra version of ‘Neverlight’ taken from the new CD ‘Left In The Dark’! Following the original track list of “Colours In The Dark”, its counterpart “Left In The Dark” contains rarities, B-Sides as well as demos, instrumental versions including five previously unreleased versions, thereof two live radio acoustic recordings of “500 Letters” and “Until Silence”. Furthermore the high quality digi-pak includes exclusive liner notes written by Tarja herself which give a personal insight behind the scenes of Tarja’s work. Click here for more info!

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Tracklist
1. Victim Of Ritual (First Demo)
2. 500 Letters (Live At Vorterix Radio) *
3. Lucid Dreamer (Demo) *
4. Never Enough (Demo Progression) *
5. Mystique Voyage (Demo) *
6. Into The Sun (Studio Version)
7. Deliverance (Instrumental)
8. Neverlight (Full Orchestra Version)
9. Until Silence (Live At Vorterix Radio) *
10. Medusa (Tarja’s Solo Version)

*previously unreleased

International release dates:

G/S/A:  04.07.14
France: 07.07.14
Spain: 04.07.14
Scandinavia: 04.07.14
Italy: tba
Argentina: October
Brazil: later, exact date tba
Bulgaria/Romani: later, exact date tba
CZ: After September 7th.
Serbia/Slovakia: after November 10th.

more to be announced soon!

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Tarja to release 10-track CD ‘Left In The Dark’

The thirst for new music of the queen of heavy rock, Tarja, has been ever strong and ever growing.
It all started with the success of the multi-platinum and gold awarded previous records “My Winterstorm” (2007) and “What Lies Beneath” (2010), followed up by the top 5 live project “Act 1”. Her most recent rock album “Colours In The Dark” has been charting in 12 countries with four Top 10 entries, got praised by the media and more importantly, by the fans. Precisely for those, a very special fan item was created.
Previously only available bundled with a ticket for the “Colours In The Road Tour 2014” in selected countries, the exclusive tour CD “Left In The Dark” will now be released on July 4th, 2014 via earMUSIC.

Tarja Left In The Dark Cover

Following the original track list of “Colours In The Dark”, its counterpart “Left In The Dark” contains rarities, B-Sides as well as demos, instrumental versions including five previously unreleased versions, thereof two live radio acoustic recordings of “500 Letters” and “Until Silence”. Furthermore the high quality digi-pak includes exclusive liner notes written by Tarja herself which give a personal insight behind the scenes of Tarja’s work.

Not only is the track selection of “Left In The Dark” one of a kind, the story behind the creation of the album artwork is as well.

In February 2014, Tarja fans were called for creating the cover artwork for her exclusive tour item “Left In The Dark”. With over 1.000 great and creative submissions, Tarja had a hard time choosing five winner artworks. In the end, this left her with no other choice than to decide on even ten lucky winners.
Congratulations to Mikoláš Gál (1st prize, front cover), Predrag Milosevic (2nd prize, back cover), Bruno Bogarin, Eric Imbimbo, Timo Lorch, Thamires Moraes, Vivien Scalbert, Pavel Simo, Stanis W-Decker and Kevin Weiß (3rd – 10th prize; all artworks included in the booklet).

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Tracklist
1. Victim Of Ritual (First Demo)
2. 500 Letters (Live At Vorterix Radio) *
3. Lucid Dreamer (Demo) *
4. Never Enough (Demo Progression) *
5. Mystique Voyage (Demo) *
6. Into The Sun (Studio Version)
7. Deliverance (Instrumental)
8. Neverlight (Full Orchestra Version)
9. Until Silence (Live At Vorterix Radio) *
10. Medusa (Tarja’s Solo Version)

*previously unreleased

International release dates:

G/S/A:  04.07.14
France: 07.07.14
Spain: 04.07.14
Scandinavia: 04.07.14
Italy: tba
Argentina: October
Brazil: later, exact date tba
Bulgaria/Romani: later, exact date tba
CZ: After September 7th.
Serbia/Slovakia: after November 10th.

more to be announced soon!

www.tarja-coloursinthedark.com
www.ear-music.net
www.youtube.com/earMUSICofficial
www.facebook.com/earMUSICofficial

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SECOND LEG OF “COLOURS IN THE ROAD”

I was very excited to prepare myself for the “Colours in the road” tour again. I had been training my voice and swimming almost daily for weeks, so I was ready to rock again with my band. This time I knew that my daughter would be running around and I would need to run behind her as well, but that fact didn’t make me worried. I was very happy to become the touring mama again.

Before the tour kicked off, we had a beautiful resting day after a long flight in Lisbon. Like the last time I was there, we walked a lot and took nice pictures of the city. I really love Lisbon, the architecture and the feeling of the city. It was also smooth “landing” to the European chilly weather from where I came, Caribbean heat, because we had +15°C!

The show was just a perfect beginning for the tour. Excited and very welcoming Portuguese audience made us feel loved. I was nervous before the show because we hadn’t been playing with the band since November, so we made a really long sound check where we played all the songs through once. This was needed for my mental health! 🙂 It was really wonderful to rock in Lisbon again and I hope to see my fans there again some time soon.

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We travelled during night to Spain, Madrid where we had our second show. The venue was a real challenge for my crew since the place was small and limited with conditions, but again my people made me feel safe and sound. Spanish people were happy to hear me sing one of my new songs “Mystique Voyage” in Spanish. Afterwards the whole band felt like being in a Finnish sauna, it was that hot inside the venue during the show 🙂

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It had been a long time since my last visit in Bilbao, Spain. I remember from the last time that I had a nerve break down during the show day, since no one from my touring colleagues had taken care to organize me anything to eat, so I left the venue alone and cried my eyes out. Those were the days in around year 2000, luckily this time things were and are different.

We had a nice day off in Bilbao. Slept long in the morning and had a beautiful dinner in the city. So this time I had indeed something to eat and the people from Bilbao were happy to see me again 😉

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One of my favourite cities in Europe is Barcelona. It was a rainy day and we didn’t have a chance to see anything in the city, but it was anyway wonderful to be back in Barcelona and rock again with my fans over there.

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We left Spain behind and arrived to Toulouse, France next day. I remember this city very well from my last visit and expected to have a great, relaxing off day there. It was Sunday, but we found a really nice restaurant in the city centre and walked a lot during that day. I love to spend my off days outside, because during the concert days usually there is no time for more than work.

Everybody in my crew enjoyed the venue, good food and crowd during the show. It was delightful arrival to France where we were going to spend a lot of time on this tour.

What a pity that I didn’t see the coastline of Marseille. I had a little walk around the venue before the sound check, but it was not enough to get a proper idea of the city, so I need to wait patiently for the next time. Since it was my first visit in Marseille, I was happy to see that local people received me so warmly there.

Lyon! Oh what a beautiful city. When we arrived, the sun appeared for us. So this time I didn’t bring a winter storm with me like usually happens. I love the old city of Lyon and we spend amazing day off there. We stayed in a Renaissance hotel, very romantic and charming and had 7-course meal dinner! That dinner took us around 4 hours, but didn’t matter…. it was just incredible! Only our little daughter got a bit frustrated waiting for the food for such a long time, but she behaved really well considering the situation J! I was happy to be able to do some shopping and get some fresh air.

The show was very nice, lots of screaming French people. We enjoyed the visit in Lyon a lot.

Next city, Bordeaux was a new place for me again and couldn’t see much, but the show was really great! And we could enjoy the local famous Bordeaux wines…I have seen beautiful pictures of the city, so next time I wish to have an off day there to be able to see more.

Some people told me that Lille is a very charming, little town with beautiful architecture, but since I had never been there, I didn’t know what to expect. Really! It was so lovely town. We walked and walked, took many pictures, made some shopping and ate well. I really enjoyed my day off in Lille.

Also the show was really fantastic. The French people gave us a lot of love and they made me feel that I must return soon. It was amazing to see some of my “crazy” French fans following me in every concert in France. Thank you for the support, kindness and care France!

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We travelled over night to London via ferry, but as always you have to stop on the boarder for the passport check, so did we. It was around 04:00 am when I needed to put winter clothes on to my sleeping baby and get out myself in pyjamas to make a line for the passport control. You should have seen all that. There were lots of kids yelling and screaming and I just wanted to get back to my bunk in the bus. Well, Naomi didn’t realize anything from the whole procedure, so I was lucky.

I was truly excited to have a show in London. It had been a long time since the last time. I also knew that there would be many international fans in the audience, which really made the show exceptional. London was really wonderful experience to my band and everybody enjoyed the show. Thank you for the patience and thank you for being there for me UK.

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We woke up in Nottingham as usual after midday, enjoyed the morning coffee in the bus before we moved to your hotel. I wanted to see a bit of the city, since again I didn’t remember if I had been in Nottingham before or not. If you wonder how on earth I cannot remember, let me tell you…I have been in “some places” in the last 15 years so I loose the track easily! It was chilly weather in Nottingham, the wind was killing us.

The city centre is really cute, tiny. We walked a bit around and enjoyed a tasty coffee there.

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There were not too many people in the venue during the show, but nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves. I want to thank Rock City Nottingham for the opportunity to play there for the first time on my own.

It was raining in Amsterdam when we arrived there finally after a long journey. We needed to have a double driver in the last show days, since the distances between the cities were really long and for one driver too much. I was looking forward to have a great time with my Dutch fans and I got what I expected. It was amazing to rock with you people again. Nice country with many important female fronted metal bands, so I felt really welcomed.

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If I should need to choose where to live in Europe, it might well be Switzerland. I love the mountains, the lakes and the fact that there are not too many people around. Vevey was a wonderful new place for us to discover. The lake Geneva surroundings are just stunning and I got a chance to enjoy that with my family. Really a wonderful place, peaceful and beautiful. But it was really cold….hrrr.

The show happened in a really small venue, but packed with people to the limits. I had a good time with my Swiss fans and friends. I feel good when I can sweat during my shows; it makes me feel that I have had a good workout 🙂  During tours I usually don’t have enough energy to go for a run, because to maintain all that I have to do, is stressful.

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After only two hours drive at night and still in Switzerland, we encountered with snowstorm in the mountains. I got awake during the night, because I felt like we were not getting anymore ahead, but we were instead sliding backwards with the bus…it was for a while quite a scary feeling, because the drop down was deep. L Our driver Mino needed to put chains to the wheels and after some hours of work we could continue our journey again. So again, the winter storm was back with me ! Ha!

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We arrived a bit late to Udine, Italy, but my crew got everything ready in time for the show. What a beautiful theatre, the venue! I love performing in theatres. They hold a very special atmosphere. I have also realized that my fans enjoy the fact that they can see my show without any disturbances.

To end this leg in Udine was the best ending ever. I almost cried at the end of the show for happiness. Italian fans were incredible and made me feel so loved. I am happy that soon in May will be other shows in Italy.

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Thank you all for this tour, thank you for the love and care.

I will see you soon, this time in Russia. Only few days left!

With love, Tarja

 

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‘Left in the Dark’ Cover Competition

Take part in the ‘Left In The Dark‘ album cover competition, create the cover artwork and win one day with Tarja on tour! ‘Left In The Dark‘ will feature different versions from songs included in the chart topping album ‘Colours In The Dark‘. More info here! Good luck!

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Bonus Track Downloads

Click here to download your bonus tracks from “Colours In The Dark”.

Bonus Track Download Link

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PR: ‘500 Letters’ music video & single

tarja_500_slate

After the success of Tarja’s latest album “Colours In The Dark” (charting in 12 countries with four Top 10 entries) and the video to her first single ‘Victim of Ritual’ reaching an enormous amount of views within three months, the second single ‘500 Letters’ celebrates its premiere today, on October 30th, 2013.

Shot in Tigre near Buenos Aires, Argentina by Florian Kaltenbach who also directed the video for ‘Victim Of Ritual’, ‘500 Letters’ is a new landmark in Tarja’s video clips collection to date.

For the first time in Tarja’s history, the singer herself is the main character in the story line. No wonder, is ‘500 Letters’ in many ways Tarja’s most private song ever. With its very personal song writing and delicate topic, it offers a great emotional insight into the artist herself. Touching the sensitive topic “stalkers”, Tarja allows her fans a closer look into her thoughts. ‘500 Letters’ is open to interpretation – being a mix of reality and fiction.

The heavy, yet highly melodic song gets stuck in your mind after the first listen with its haunting melody and touching, exceptional vocals. Despite its very catchy key note, the bombastic sound still is full of darkness and dramatic structure and takes Tarja’s song writing one step further.

This atmosphere is captured perfectly in the video.

Before the video for ‘500 Letters’ will be made public worldwide on earMUSIC’s official YouTube channel on Thursday, October 31st at 5pm CET, local pre-premieres are held with the following media partners today (October 30th) at 5pm CET:

Germany – www.ampya.com / www.myvideo.de

Finland – Radio Rock

Poland – Onet.PL

Spain – Rafabasa

USA – Metal Injection

Argentina – Rock And Pop Radio

Italy – Metalitalia

Switzerland – Metal Insight

Australia – Sludge Factory

On November 1st, 2013 ‘500 Letters’ will be available as download only in all digital stores.

As an exclusive bonus treat, the single bundle includes the ten minutes acoustic set ‘Rivers Of Lust / Minor Heaven / Montañas de Silencio / Sing For Me/ I Feel Immortal (Acoustic)’ recorded at Teatro El Circulo in Rosario, Argentina – originally part of the DVD and Blu-ray release “Act I” and now, for the first time available as audio digital download.

500 Letters (digital single)

1. 500 Letters

2. Rivers Of Lust / Minor Heaven / Montañas de Silencio / Sing For Me/ I Feel Immortal (Acoustic)

In the meantime, Tarja is on tour as a part of her “Colours In The Road 2013 – 2015”. 
Dates are getting added all the time and you can check the status of the tour here: http://www.tarjaturunen.com/en/category/concerts/

Tarja_500-Letters_Cover

Colours In The Road Tour 2013-2015

2013

30.10. Nuremberg – Löwensaal (GER)

01.11. Leipzig – Haus Auensee (GER)

02.11. Cologne – Gloria (GER)

04.11. Paris – Le Bataclan (FR)

2014

28.01. Lisbon – Aula Magna (PT)

29.01. Madrid – Sala Arena (ES)

31.01. Bilbao – Santana 27 (ES)

01.02. Barcelona – Salamandra 1 (ES)

03.02. Toulouse – Le Bikin (FR)

04.02. Marseille – Espace Julien (FR)

06.02. Lyon – Le Transbordeur (FR)

07.02. Bordeaux – Le Krakatoa (FR)

09.02. Lille – Le Splendid (FR)

10.02. London – O2 Academy Islington (UK)

12.02. Nottingham – Rock City (UK)

13.02. Amsterdam – Melkweg (NL)

16.02. Udine – Teatro Giovanni Da Udine (IT)

11.09. Belo Horizonte – Music Hall (BRA)

13.09. Sao Paulo – HSBC (BRA)

14.09. Rio de Janeiro – Circo Voador (BRA)

09.11. Kraków – Klub Studio (PL)

10.11. Łódź –  https://www.facebook.com/Wytwornia  Klub Wytwórnia (PL)

12.11. Katowice – Mega Club (PL)

13.11. Warsaw – Palladium (PL)
15.11. Minsk – Pallace (BY)

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Within Temptation featuring Tarja!

The wait is over! Watch the official Within Temptation video for their new single “Paradise (What About Us?)” featuring Tarja, now, through the following links:

http://vevo.ly/swfAf7 or http://www.myvideo.de

Enjoy!

WT+T

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PR: Tarja reaches first Top 10 chart positions for the album “Colours In The Dark” and announces new single “500 Letters”

Tarja’s recently released “Colours In The Dark” (August 30th, 2013) is definitely one of the brightest albums in rock in 2013.  Praised by worldwide media as “simply fantastic!” (Sonic Seducer, GER),“Tarja’s strongest solo release to date” (Classic Rock Prog, UK), “Overwhelming, surprising and massive” (Aardschok NL), ”best solo album so far” (Soundi, FI), “a superb performance” (Rock Hard, IT), and “by far and away the finest that Tarja has sounded for the best part of a decade” (Powerplay, UK), the album proves to be a milestone for heavy symphonic rock.

The response from media and fans contributed to make “Colours In The Dark” a worldwide chart success: a few days after its release the album has already collected five Top 10 entries (# 5 in Finland and Russia, # 6 in Germany, #8 in Poland and # 9 in Czech Republic). And this is just the beginning..

Coinciding with the successful first chart week, earMUSIC is happy to announce ‘500 Letters’ as the second single taken from “Colours In The Dark”. The song will be released as a strictly limited CD single and download at the end of September.

500 Letters’ is in many ways Tarja’s most private song ever. With its very personal song writing and delicate topic, it offers a great emotional insight into the artist herself.
Touching the sensitive topic “stalkers”, Tarja allows her fans a closer look into her thoughts. ‘500 Letters’ is open to interpretations – being half reality, half fiction.
The heavy, yet highly melodic song gets stuck in your mind after the first listen with its haunting melody and touching, exceptional vocals. Despite its very catchy key note, the bombastic sound still is full of darkness and dramatic structure and takes Tarja’s song writing one step further.

Regular updates can be found on Tarja’s official album website www.tarja-coloursinthedark.com where Tarja personally blogs to keep in touch with her fans.

Tarja will perform songs from her new album on her forthcoming tour.

“Colours In The Road 2013-2015”
17.10. Olomouc – Hala University Palackeho (CZ)
19.10. Berlin – Huxley’s (GER)
20.10. Wieze – Metal Female Voices Festival (BE)
22.10. Hamburg – Docks (GER)
23.10. Dortmund – FZW (GER)
25.10. Karlsruhe – Festhalle Durlach (GER)
26.10. Munich – Backstage (GER)
27.10. Vienna – Arena (AT)
29.10. Pratteln – Z7 Konzertfabrik (CH)
30.10. Nuremberg – Löwensaal (GER)
01.11. Leipzig – Haus Auensee (GER)
02.11. Cologne – Gloria (GER)
04.11. Paris – Le Bataclan (FR)
2014
03.02. Toulouse – Le Bikin (FR)
04.02. Marseille – Espace Julien (FR)
06.02. Lyon – Le Transbordeur (FR)
07.02. Bordeaux – Le Krakatoa (FR)
09.02. Lille – Le Splendid (FR)

09.11. Kraków – Klub Studio (PL)
10.11. Łódź – Klub Wytwórnia (PL)
12.11. Katowice – Mega Club (PL)
13.11. Warsaw – Palladium (PL)

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“Colours In The Dark” Press quotes

Read what international media says about “Colours in the Dark”

Germany

„…. This would be the only true soundtrack to „Alice In Wonderland“. Colours In The Dark is just extra ordinary, simply fantastic!” (Sonic Seducer)

“After Nightwish also Tarja manages to bring her music to a soundtrack-level. […]
Pompous choirs, surprising moves and modern guitar riffs included.” (Metal Hammer)

“Catchy hooks meet story telling compositions.Yes ! – this is Tarja at her best. […]
‘Colours In The Dark’ is a tremendous album, studded with plenty details…” (EMP)

„The ten inovative compostitions all sound modern and courageous, sparkle with variety and wealth of ideas, reaching new musical spheres.” (Nuclear Blast)

“The queen is back!“ – (Rock It!)

UK

„….. Colours In The Dark is the sound of a very talented artist at the top of her game…. It is by far and away the finest that Tarja has sounded for the best part of a decade (Powerplay UK, 9/9)

“… Tarja’s work really feels like something beyond the normal realm of rock music, or opera styling. …This will please fans both old and new, lovers of both genres and many with just a curious ear. This is a real pleasure to listen to.” (Rebelicious Mag UK)

“… Colours InThe Dark” must surely be Tarja’s strongest solo release to date.” (Prog Magazine)

“.. With this album, Tarja has reached a level of sustained maturity and dynamism with her song writing and singing whereby nothing is beyond her capability. […]. Most striking of all is the opening song “Victim Of Ritual” – simply stunning! (Fireworks)

Belgium

“It should be more than obvious now that Tarja can continue her way without “Nightwish” and with “Colours In The Dark” she adds an excellent new chapter to her solo career. […] .”Colours In The Dark”, besides being a vocal fest, contains many musical highlights. (Rocktribune 80/100)

The Netherlands:

‘Overwhelming, surprising and massive. With this album Tarja shows everybody, and Nightwish especially, what she’s made of. Respect!’ (Aardschok 95/100)

“It’s the combination of variation, strong songs, a great sound and of course her fantastic voice that makes Colours In The Dark the best Tarja album to date.” (Lust For Life Magazine, 4/5)

Finland

“Colours In The Dark is luckily Tarja’s best solo album so far.” (SOUNDI)

France

“Colours In The Dark finally confirms an impressive maturity and solidity” (Rock Hard, 7/10)

Sweden

“The Finnish singer will never be able to get away from being compared to Nightwish, but while the ex-colleagues are drifting towards a more epic adventure/film musical direction, Tarja is more geared towards a romanticized, science-fiction like landscape. Which surprisingly enough fits both her and her toned down soprano-voice excellently.” (Sweden Rock gave, 7/10)

Spain

“Tarja gets it again with her very personal winner formula” (LH Radio)

“The best version of Tarja really shines in Colours In The Dark, perhaps her Best album to date”
(TNT Radio)

USA

“Over an hour of interesting and emotional music that will definitely take you away from your usual routine. ..This album is magic….”(Sea of Tranquility, 4/5)

“Tarja’s best work to date.” (Wickedchannel.com, 8,5/10)

“Colours in the Dark is a must have release for any Tarja fan, and any fan of Symphonic Rock/Metal. This release is filled with excellently crafted songs that are quite catchy and engaging in nature, making it the best album Tarja has released… so far. (Infernal Masquerade)

“…a strong album, possibly one of Tarja’s best. Recommended.” (Dangerdog, 4/5)

“Tarja Turunen’s voice is a force of nature, dominant and dominating. The former lead singer for Nightwish fills her lungs and turns Colours In The Dark into the fury of the four winds. From the bombastic opener ‘Victim of Ritual’ to the exquisite closer ‘Medusa,’ in which she shares her hurricane-proof microphone with Blue October’s Justin Furstenfeld, Colours In The Dark is a colossal battle royale of operatic soprano, keyboard orchestra and Alex Schlopp’s ENGL amplifier madness. (About.com, 3.5/5)

“On this album, Tarja shows the diversity of her vocal range and the complexity of her voice, at the same time presents a more personal and intimate approach to her life through her lyrics.” (Theageofmetal.com)

“This is a solid album from start to finish that will please fans of the Tarja of old.” (Blogcritics)

“..Colours In The Dark, in fact, follows the trend of showing her creator’s talent outside of the scene that made her world famous…. She’s in crescendo in her solo career, and rarely fails bringing to the scene exquisite music. Altogether, Colours In The Dark is a welcome addition to every Tarja addict’s collection…” (Metalstorm)

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“Colours In The Dark” Pre-listening now online!

Only two two days left until the release of ‘Colours In The Dark’. Get listening and pre order your copy now!

Click here for the “Colours In The Dark” Pre-Listening!

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Tarja