In the lore of heavy metal only a handful of artists can claim to have changed history, and even fewer can say they’ve done so twice. Enter Apocalyptica and one of metal’s greatest, most unlikely success stories. By any account it’s the stuff of legend, and it’s about to come full circle.
Cast your mind back thirty years. The giants of the 70s and 80s still ruled the scene, but a generation of up-and-coming artists were pushing hard on the boundaries of heavy music, and then Apocalyptica came along and smashed them down with cello case.
Formed in 1993 at the world-renowned Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, Apocalyptica began life as a loving, lo-fi nod to Metallica from four classically-trained musicians with no greater ambition than to explore their favourite band’s music with their chosen instrument. As founding bandleader Eicca Toppinnen explains, the project would take on a life of its own when they finally released Plays Metallica By Four Cellos in 1996. More than a debut, it was a monster in waiting.
Unbeknownst to Apocalyptica, they’d just boarded a rocket ship that would propel them through eight rapturously received records, a staggering six million records sold, and a relentless touring schedulethat would see them bringing their uniquely symphonic concept of heaviness to every time zone and countless festival stages around the world.
We played the full first album and it was so much more fun and exciting than we expected,”says Eicca. “We got the idea to do something like the first album, but we couldn’t do it in exactly the same way – we needed to challenge ourselves and bring a totally new perspective to the original energy and emotion of Metallica.”
The result was nothing short of a sonic love-letter – an album they’d simply, elegantly title Plays Metallica, Vol. 2, and the passion poured into the recording project by Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso, Paavo Lötjönen and Mikko Sirén – the band’s long-time drummer who after completion of this album leaves amicably on this unique high-note – is plain to hear and see. Perttu Kivilaakso concurs, adding that the new album – produced by longtime collaborator and studio supremo Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Soundgarden, Tool, Nine Inch Nails) – was more than another selection of hits.