Nightwish is a symphonic metal band from Finland. They formed in July 1996 and played acoustic mood music. The band's keyboardist and composer Tuomas Holopainen had the idea of forming a band. He asked Tarja Turunen to sing and Emppu Vuorinen to play guitar.
At the beginning of 1997, the band started playing stronger music. Jukka Nevalainen joined the band to play the drums. Vuorinen used an electric guitar instead of an acoustic guitar. In May 1997, Nightwish signed a contract (binding agreement) with Spinefarm Records and they released their first album 'Angels Fall First'.