NIGHTWISH mainman Tuomas Holopainen has issued the following studio update:

"Time to add the final touches for Imaginarium while waiting for Anette to get well. This means the celtic magic of Mr. Troy Donockley with his pipes and bodhran, the smoking fingers of Mr. Pekka Kuusisto with his violin and some additional percussion & tribal drums.

I picked up Troy at the airport on Saturday night while Jukka and Kai (Hahto) were generating some new percussive ideas and boozing at Petrax. When we returned they had already nailed all tambourines, shaman drums etc. Satisfied with the day`s work we celebrated the Cumbrian - Carelian Dead Poets` reunion by entering the realm of the ultimate alchemic magic potion called Salmari. Jari (Sinkkonen of Kotiteollisuus) also joined us during the night to do a new tattoo for Jukka.

It took one and a half days for Troy to record his pipes and bodhran. He even ended up doing some singing in one of the songs, which was a killer of a last-minute-idea. This particular tune has grown up to be one of the highlights of the whole album. Saturday evening was filled with the much anticipated Troy`s magic show, sauna and a Youtube medley consisting some of our all-time faves like the ultimate tenor fail, cat vs. printer with translation, Sony releasing a stupid piece of shit that doesn`t f...ing work, etc.

Pekka`s violin virtuosity stunned us once again when he joined us on Monday night to play a couple of leads. His hand-written notes make medical doctors` prescriptions look like Rembrandt`s art. A true genius of a musician with a big heart.

A huge thanks and eternal gratitude to all of you fellow imagineers contributing to this album! A special appreciation goes to Tiina and Petri, our studio hosts, caretakers and dear friends at Petrax.

At the moment we are recording Anette`s vocals, seven songs done so far. She hasn`t quite cured from her broken ribs yet but fortunately it doesn`t affect her singing at all. She`s never sounded better. Time to enter the lair of Mr. Karmila now and start devouring song number eight."

Holed up in Finland's Petrax Studios for the better part of this spring, Nightwish's' new album, Imaginarium, is scheduled to be released early in 2012, followed by the movie after an indefinite time. The first single off the album as well as the trailer for the movie should appear well before the end of the 2011.

A recent Imaginarium movie update from Nightwish reads: "If you were to witness an unprecedented magic trick that could not be explained rationally, would you want to know how it is done?

A child experiences something new and unique each day. Something that is often impossible for the child to put into words without the guidance or explanation of an adult. Often the explanation has disappointed us. Sometimes it’s better not to know the truth.

If you had the chance to return to your childhood - just for a split second - when witnessing a magic trick, would you forfeit that chance and seek for a rational explanation?

Imaginarium is all about such questions. They have been answered by many people who have worked with the album and the movie already in the planning stages. As the final storyboard is being created, the producers, the director, the band, the production designer, the concept artists, and the casting director all work together to perfect their various arts for the movie. Contradictorily, they often have to ask the question: “How can we weave that kind of magic?”

The script has seen many improvements, more than ever before. The truth about movie production is that the script is often polished right until the first day of shooting, sometimes even during the shooting. At the moment, a lot of loose ends are being tied together, and a lot of characters are changed substantively to act as either a negative or a positive force in the story.

The SFX and prop design is underway, as well as the casting for the main roles. Storyboard drawing is interrupted momentarily, as concept art is needed to outline the characters and the environments.

We’ve experimented with arranging the background score with the actual songs off the album, and the best indicator of success is the amount of goose bumps the combination has raised.

?These are exciting times, because the decisions being made now largely shape the finished movie. We can only say that we’re already immensely proud of it.

We’ve travelled a long road, but not until the next crossroads can we distinguish a sign “Imaginarium, X miles”."

Nightwish recently announced that the very first show for the Imaginarium World Tour will take place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA, on Saturday, January 21st, 2012.

This will be the biggest Nightwish show production ever on North American soil and strictly a one-off - there will be no US tour until later in 2012. Ticket sales will begin soon.