Before working on Century Child, Emppu and Tuomas composed an hymn (‘Kiteen Pallo Kipa” in 2001) for Kitee’s baseball team. In January 2002, when Nightwish began to compose for the album, the atmosphere among the band was excellent, thanks to Marco but also because the band realized that they had reached such a level that they had nothing to prove to anyone anymore. Technically easier, Century Child yet contained songs which were the hardest to compose and also the darkest. With Slaying the Dreamer, Tuomas and Emppu signed the darkest and most aggressive track by Nightwish. As far as the theme is concerned, that song is the total opposite of Dead Boy’s Poem. While the latter talks about thanks, pardon and forgiveness, Slaying the Dreamer is a call for denunciation, insult and avenge. This album has the particularity to offer four tracks recorded with Joensuu Symphonic orchestra.

Besides, Tuomas gave Marco the responsibility to compose the first act of ‘Beauty of the Beast’. Spinefarm Records also offered a 2CD special edition with three tracks composed in the same period as the demo Angel Fall First (‘Nightwish’, ‘Forever Moments’, and ‘Etiaeinen’). The band stepped into another dimension with Marco’s arrival. Indeed, he sang the back vocals on Century Child and a few lead vocals. In March 2002, Tuomas played the guitar among Bitxh Driven, Tero’s Band (Jukka played drums) and gave a show supported by Dunces.

By May, Marco’s collaborating with Nightwish confronted Sinergy with problems: indeed, Marco could not handle the two bands’ tour at the same time. In consequence, Kimberly Goss (Sinergy’s singer) looked for a substitute and Marco became Nightwish full time bass player. However, the band faced tensions provoked by Kimberly when she publicly spread the rumor about Tarja’s possible leaving as the latter planned a year of studying without a single concert, in 2003. On June 1st 2002, Tarja went to Argentina and then Chili where she sang for an opera entitled Noche Escandaniava (Scandinavian Night). At the same time, Century Child’s first single, Ever Dream, was made gold album in two hours! The album followed suit and became gold album and then platinum in two weeks only.

After Century Child release, Nightwish began touring for German and Finnish festivals (Himos, Bang Your Head, Tuska, Ilosaarirock). Then, they went back in South America to play six shows in Brazil. Sao Paulo was a success and remained the best concert of the tour with almost 7000 tickets sold to seduced fans in the Credit Card Hall. The second single, Bless the Child, was out on August 22nd. The band took part in the Summer Breeze Festival in August (where its performance was recorded). Then, Nightwish started a European tour with Finnish band Charon and with After Forever from Holland. On August 28th, Nightwish played on the Paradisio stage in Amsterdam and the concert was filmed for a web television: FabChannel. The tour eventually ended with a series of shows in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. During that tour, Nightwish covered Ozzy Osbourne “Crazy Train” which was entirely sung by Marco. When Nightwish went back to Finland, the band announced that they would take a year-long break to allow Tarja finishing her studies in Karlsruhe’s Music University in the South West of Germany. The other members of the band took the most of that year-off to make side projects: Marco wrote for Tarot (one of his former bands)’s album, Emppu took part in Altaria with Sonata Arctica’s guitarist (Jani Liimatainen) and eventually quit in December 2003, Tuomas joined For My Pain (created in 2000 by Eternal Tears of Sorrow ex members) and Jukka took part in Sethian where he joined Wilska.

Finally, the single Ever Dream was made platinum in Finland in October 2002. In November, the band played for the first time in Sweden for the surprise show in Stockholm.