MARKO “MARCO” HIETALA on his decision to leave NIGHTWISH: “It was a long process”

former NIGHTWISH bassist/singer Marco “Marco” Hietala says it took him “a long time” to finally make the decision to leave the band.

The bassist/singer announced his departure NIGHTWISH in January 2021, stating in a statement that he “hasn’t felt validated by this life for a number of years.” He has since been replaced by session bassists Jukka Koskinen (WINTER SUN), with which he made his live debut NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band’s two interactive experiences.

In a new interview with Finland’s Chaoszine, Hietala revealed he went through a dark period in his life that included depression, insomnia, anxiety and an eventual diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). As he spoke about how he finally came to the realization that he was dropping out NIGHTWISH was the right thing Mark said (as transcribed from BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It was a long process. Of course the COVID year that has been where I have had a lot of soul searching time has of course given me the final spur that I need something else if I just keep going like this I’m getting sicker and sicker but of course it’s a process.

“I have been chronically depressed since 2010 [or] 2011, so I’ve been on medication consistently ever since,” he revealed. “Sometimes you get used to the medication [and] You will need more. We raised [the dosage] over the years too, but it just didn’t work. And now that I’ve started… I’ve had psychotherapy for over four years now and then I also talked to psychiatrists and some doctors and did that in Spain too. Then my psychiatrist here in Finland said I should do these ADHD neuropsychological tests, which I then did in Spain. And, okay, I get it.”

Hietala reiterated that he “had been thinking” of leaving NIGHTWISH “for a while” before making the final decision. “Because I was heavy. And I tend to… With attention deficit disorder, it tells me that when there’s a lot of problems, the disorder makes it a real mess,” he explained. “There’s a lot of stuff coming and going and no rest anywhere. And for a year or two I was waking up at 3am every night with bad dreams and anxiety. So I would say the whole process probably started with my previous divorce [in 2016]. That was a very sad time when you think about your kids and your broken home and all that. And then when I started to get clear, then there was, well, all sorts of things. I don’t really want to elaborate on what I’ve been through, but I’ve been through enough.”

recognition of this production NIGHTWISH‘s latest studio album, 2020 “Human. :II: Nature.”was a “difficult” experience for him, Mark denied that his mental state at the time resulted in a diminished role for him on the final LP. “I think the original idea was to have that … we’re going to do a bunch of these [solo vocal appearances]or a solo for me and Troy [Donockley]and the rest floor [Jansen], and then the harmonies; That was the original idea for it,” he said. “So I don’t know if it had an impact. I think it went as planned. But I already had that back then serious Difficulty concentrating and having serious problems with a constant black cloud over my head.”

Last month, Hietala said Finland Iltalehti with whom he no longer has contact NIGHTWISH since leaving or following the activities of his former band.

in May 2021, NIGHTWISH Keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen said, that HietalaThe decision to leave the band “came as a bit of a surprise”. He told Finland Kaao’s TV: “Mark informed us in December [of 2020 that he was leaving the band]. And although he has been very open about his condition and his problems in recent years, we were a little surprised. So it was a really difficult pill to swallow. And for a few days I was actually quite confident that there was no turning back, that it was time. I remember speaking to Emppu [Vuorinen], the guitarist, and we said, ‘You think that’s it?’ “Yes, I think it is.” I mean enough is enough. So much has happened in the past. Something that broke the camel’s back, as they say. Then after some time had passed – a few days – we started to think that it’s been such a ride of 25 years, with so many ups, that this isn’t the way to end it.

Tuomas worked out NIGHTWISH‘s reasons for going on: “I think we still have something to give and that’s the main point. The music is still there. We felt there was still so much music to come from this band that’ Okay, let’s try again.’ And then it was really easy to find the new bassist.”

He added: “It’s not like we’re doing this just because we have to do it and there’s nothing else to do. On a personal level, I feel like there’s still so many stories and tunes I want to share with the world with one cast or another, so you want to keep going and keep going.

“I’ve said that a million times that a cast change is the ultimate energy vampire, and that’s really how it felt and still feels.”

In June 2021, Jansen talked about Hietala‘s exit from the band in an episode of her “Storytime” YouTube video series. She said: “It was a very sudden surprise, which obviously wasn’t fun at all. But we understand – I understand – it was a necessary thing for him. And from there we had to think about how to continue without him and that was also a big challenge in preparation for the virtual show.”

She continued, “I’m very glad we found one yukka to play with us And it was wonderful to get together even if I miss Mark, in April to begin rehearsals for these virtual shows. Luckily we had a lot of time together and it was very nice to go through the process of not just knowing how to sing or play the songs but really feeling them, really communicating them like you do on a show. We did that together. And then of course there was the relatively unnatural environment of standing in a green bathroom [laughs] shouted the green screens around us and cameras and people going out for coffee instead of a real live audience. But that was really great. We had enough time to rehearse all of this and had a lot of fun doing it.”

NIGHTWISH continues to tour in support of “Human. :II: Nature.”which was released in April 2020. The successor of 2015 “Endless forms at their most beautiful”, “Human. :II: Nature.” is a double album with nine tracks on the main CD and one long track divided into eight chapters on CD 2.

In December 2020, Hietala was crowned the winner of the fall season 2020 “Masked Singer Suomi” — the Finnish edition of the popular mask singing competition. He was disguised as Tohtori – the Doctor.