Oceanborn history:
After a noticed album (Angels Fall First), Nightwish released the album which suddenly put them at the head of the Finish charts and made them known worldwide. Oceanborn is considered by Tuomas as Nightwish’s real first album, as though Angels Fall First was just a practice, a demo. It was the most moving album to record for Tarja, since Tuomas was so demanding. Yet, the results are here to be heard. Considered by many as THE Nightwish album, Oceanborn definitely marked the world of metal music.

Tuomas leaves the vocal parts to Wilska :
Tuomas who was not really convinced with his voice on Angels Fall First (opinion shared by most of the people who heard his vocal feats on The Carpenter) decided not to sing on Nightwish’s tracks anymore. Yet, as he composed Oceanborn, he felt the need to have a masculine voice on two tracks (Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean, and the huge The Pharaoh Sails to Orion). Tuomas then called out his friend Wilska whose voice perfectly matched what Tuomas had been looking for (the Devil’s voice for the first track and a pharaoh for the second one). Wilska’s vocal parts’ recordings went off very quickly – after a few takes, he was told: “it’s a wrap, thanks for coming”. So when the album came out and reached the top of the Finish charts, Wilska was afraid that his performance was not worth the album! He can put his mind at rest, he’s perfect!