From Finland seems to come an endless stream of musicians, in all sorts and forms... but all of them are unique in their own ways. We have the symphonic metallers Nightwish who have single-handedly reinvented the metal genre by using a classically trained vocalist to sing during their power metal moments. We have inventors and refiners of that same power metal genre in Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica. We have a mix of power metal and darker influences, that goes by the name Children of Bodom. We have the sad alt rock band known as HIM. We've got Finntroll, Ensiferum... the list goes on and on and on. And we've got one of the strangest incarnations of power metal yet... a band called Apocalyptica.
Now, who are Apocalyptica, you ask? Well, the band consists of three classically trained cellists, and one drummer, (that's right, no guitar, no bass, THREE cellists) that use their instruments to play a unique mix of classical music and heavy metal. Whereas their first album was one consisting of Metallica covers from their early period, they rapidly found their own niche. They soon started writing material of their own, which led to greater and greater success. And on this album, it almost comes close to perfection.
You're going to ask me right now how a band consisting of cellos and drums can actually sound like heavy metal. And to tell you the truth, I have no idea how they manage to play like that. Every cello riff sounds like a guitar riff, except it can't be one because the band doesn't use any guitars. On some tracks, there are guest vocals, by Lauri Ylonen (of The Rasmus) and Ville Valo (of HIM.) And to my surprise, they add to the album instead of take away from it. Bittersweet features both in a surprisingly effective duet, with the band supporting them. It's really sad, yet really melodic, and to me one of the highlights of the album.
But there's more. There's Ruska, and when you thought Bittersweet was one sad affair... this is a song you could genuinely play at your funeral and ask whether the one who requested it was sure that this was a composition by these finns and not some classical music composer. In fact, how and why this can be found on a metal record is a miracle at all. It seems so out of place, yet it works perfectly and efficiently. This, my friends, is musicianship at its best. To make a cello metal record, and then be efficiently able to tag a piece of work like this on... these guys know their stuff. Has to be one of the best songs ever.
And then there's songs like Fisheye or Fatal Error, instrumental tracks featuring pounding cello riffage at various speeds and time changes, never dulling one moment or becoming boring. The men have mastered their cellos to play something truly unprecedented in this genre. And the sad thing is, when these guys quit, there's going to be little people that can copy this style. This band has gold on its hands. They are, even more than bands like Nightwish or Rhapsody, proof that metal and classical music can go hand in hand, and be made to sound perfectly.
Betrayal/Forgiveness is another highlight. While the first half of the song is a literal cello barrage, more reminiscent of bands like Slayer and Metallica (whom Apocalyptica seem to admire, because they've toured with the latter and covered like half their discography, and also covered slayer songs), the latter part is a slow, melodic and soft passage, contrasting the beginning like yin and yang. And it's even reflected in the title. The betrayal at the beginning, the forgiveness at the end. It's amazing how sometimes you come across an album that just opens your eyes to the wide and varied possibility that music can provide.
None of the other songs, despite not being totally as outstanding as the rest, fail to live up to their promise either; each track on here (with Life Burns! featuring Lauri Ylonen on guest vocals again) has something to offer. Not for a moment does the barrage of music relent, or let you go from its almost suffocating grip. Every track murders like a serial killer. Everything works perfectly. And they even got Dave Lombardo (you got that right, Slayer's Dave Lombardo) to do guest drums on a track. These guys know their classical and their metal. Everything on here just works and flows from beginning to end.
This is a highly recommended record for everyone. If you love music, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of this. It's interesting for classical musicians to make bridges to the metal genre, interesting to metalheads to expose their ears to something wholly different, and it's recommended for everyone else because it's just a great album, a great band, and just a great display of musicianship overall. As it is, this is one hell of a prized record in my collection. I urge you all to run to the stores and get a copy of this right now.
