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Helsinki, 1993. Four classically-trained musicians form a cello quartet at the Sibelius Academy, and they name themselves Apocalyptica. All of them share a common interest; their favourite band just so happens to be Los Angeles’ very own Metallica. In the years following their formation, the guys would craft their own take on the ‘Tallica sound – widening and expanding the dynamic range that their music (and heavy metal in general) has, helping to establish a subgenre that would be heralded by fans of heavy music everywhere; Symphonic Metal. Whilst performing their tracks at a metal club in the Finnish capital, somebody insisted that they record them, but the cellists didn’t think that would be a great idea. However, after some insistence from the label, their debut album Plays Metallica by Four Cellos was released. One of the members, Eicca Toppinnen, even went so far as to say “Who listens to this shit on record?” – and as it turns out, quite a lot of people listened to this shit.
And now, here we are some 28 years later, with Plays Metallica Vol. 2 – the highly anticipated follow up to their critically acclaimed debut. Having already covered most tracks from Master of Puppets and the self-titled Black Album, the group now turn their focus to a few later tracks, such as 1997’s Reload and even “everyone’s favourite record” St. Anger too. This time around, the album art doesn’t portray the cellists in action, bows colliding with strings. Instead, it showcases a worse-for-wear cello with tape holding the fretboard together (à la …And Justice for All) being struck by blue lightning, an obvious yet awesome nod to Metallica’s sophomore album Ride the Lightning.
And it’s only fitting that the cover is based off of this, because the first song on the record is the infamous title track itself. It starts off with a very dramatic and mysterious opening, fuelled by harsh low notes over a melody line that sounds very distant, as if it’s creeping up behind you. Then all of a sudden, the drums kick in and the cellists get to work with playing a rendition of the classic thrash metal riff. Straight away, it’s very impressive to hear just how scarily similar the classical strings sound to that of a normal guitar that Kirk and James would play on record – with the distortion settings enabled, if I didn’t know who was playing, I would easily assume it was a guitarist. Swiftly after, we are met with the ferocity of St. Anger, which wastes no time in laying down the iconic riff before exploding into action. It’s worth noting that it felt almost impossible for me to listen to this album (and in particular, this song) without singing it either in my head or out loud – trying to stay silent during the chorus refrain of “Fuck it all and no regrets/I hit the lights on these dark sets” was PAINFUL. A brilliant take on the song that still stays true to its original sound!
What’s insane is that, on this album, Apocalyptica throw in a couple of guest appearances. What’s even more insane is that the appearances in question are features from actual Metallica members. Yes, you’re reading that correctly – both Rob Trujilo and James Hetfield appear on the album! Other than Rob playing his signature bass licks on their version of The Four Horsemen from debut album Kill ‘Em All, both him and James play together on the album finale, the anthemic and classic One from …And Justice For All. James delivers a very eerie spoken word rendition of the song’s haunting war lyrics, creating a new depth to just how dark this track can be. For an already dramatic song, this version somehow excels the doom even higher, and produces some serious moments of dread that I still can’t fully shake off, what with its abrupt stabbing of strings, and the bleak spoken words layered within. And if, for some reason, you’d rather hear it WITHOUT James and Rob, the group have also included an instrumental version of the song on the album too. The end of the record serves as a beautiful full cycle for the group, as they started their career by covering music from their heroes, and now they’re covering music WITH their heroes.
Plays Metallica Vol. 2 proves to any naysayers that symphonic metal is one of the most inventive and sonically astounding subgenres that exists in not just metal, but music as a whole today. It also further proves that you can successfully add a string section to any Metallica song – in fact, the band even delved into the subgenre themselves with the release of their 1999 live album S&M, enrolling Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony orchestra to transform the best of their back catalogue into (if you pardon the pun) ‘Thrashical’ masterpieces. The Finnish group are heading to the UK for a short tour at the end of September to play some ‘Tallica for everyone, including a stop at none other than the legendary Royal Albert Hall – and if that prospect doesn’t excite you, then I don’t know what will. The question now looms – Volume 3, when?
Purchase Apocalyptica Plays Metallica: Vol 2. here.
Plays Metallica Vol. 2 Tour Dates:
29.09.24 – Manchester Albert Hall, Manchester
30.09.24 – Royal Albert Hall, London
01.10.24 – Olympia Theatre, Dublin
03.10.24 – SWG3, Glasgow
04.10.24 – Rock City, Nottingham
05.10.24 – Great Uni Hall, Cardiff
Tickets available now here: http://myticket.co.uk/artists/apocalyptica.
Review: Joe Richardson
Photo Credit: Riki Murto
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