The band warmed up for the trek and introduced fans to new vocalist Anette Olzon with a pair of shows in Paris and Strasbourg, France, in April.

Nightwish will launch its world tour in earnest October 6 at Hangar II in Tel Aviv, Israel, and then head for the states to kick off the North American leg October 15 at Jaxx in Springfield, Va.

Other stops on the 23-city run include the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York City (October 18), Metropolis in Montreal (October 21), Harpo’s in Detroit (October 26), the Roseland Theater in Portland, Ore. (November 1), White Rabbit in San Antonio, Texas (November 10), and The Masquerade in Atlanta (November 17).

Tickets for North American shows are available through Ticketmaster.

The U.K and European section of the tour gets rolling November 28 at KB Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and runs through most of April.

Countries on the band’s itinerary include Sweden, Finland, Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, the U.K., Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal.

Information on tickets for some of the band’s U.K. and European dates is available at www.nightwish.com.

Dark Passion Play, due out October 2, is Nightwish’s sixth release and its first since the departure of vocalist Tarja Turunen, who was dismissed very publicly by the band’s other members in 2005.

To find her replacement, the group solicited demos from singers interested in the position, eventually choosing Olzon in the spring of 2006.