METALLICA’s personal frontman himself James Hetfield visitors on APOCALYPTICA’s quilt of “One”
APOCALYPTICA are overjoyed to announce the 3rd unmarried from Apocalyptica Performs Metallica, Vol. 2 – the hotly-anticipated sequel to their mythical debut file. “One” falls sizzling at the heels of first singles “The 4 Horsemen” and “The Unforgiven II“, and contours none rather then METALLICA frontman James Hetfield himself.
“Apocalyptica Performs Metallica Vol. 2” will proceed the adventure that started in 1996 when cellists from Helsinki’s world-renowned Sibelius Academy performed symphonic tribute to the most important of the large 4 – heavy steel titans METALLICA. For his or her 10th file the classically-minded dynamos are returning to their roots to carry a mythical tale complete circle. It additionally includes a host of surprises, together with an exceptional collaboration.
The LP’s 3rd unmarried “One“, taken from METALLICA‘s 1988 landmark “…And Justice For All” is a wide ranging reinterpretation of some of the largest of The Giant 4’s largest musical moments – a real crowning ingenious success of their staggering 40 yr profession. In a surprising construction, the only sees METALLICA frontman James Hetfield himself becoming a member of complaints for a soul-stirring, spoken-word rendition of the ones inimitable, now immortal lyrics. Greater than a novel collaboration, that is historical past within the making.
“I believe it’s improbable that James sought after to do it,” says APOCALYPTICA‘s Eicca Toppinen. “We had been all the time considering, ‘it’d be nice to at some point do one thing with Metallica!’ I believe the joy for him got here from the other method we had been taking – now and again the craziest concepts are what excites folks and that was once our problem.”
“We used the entirety at our disposal to make it as bombastic as imaginable. It needed to be epic! The end result was once actually cinematic, with James Hetfield narrating the tale with the ones poetic lyrics. It was once robust and touching,” provides Perttu Kivilaakso. “As a fan I’ve to mention it was once implausible to in spite of everything pay attention it. I used to be in my house crying. My arms had been shaking. It was once an improbable adventure.”
“Apocalyptica Performs Metallica Vol. 2” was once produced via longtime collaborator and studio supremo Joe Barresi (QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, SOUNDGARDEN, NINE INCH NAILS, TOOL) and will likely be launched by the use of new label Throwdown Leisure on June seventh.
“Apocalyptica Performs Metallica Vol. 2” Tracklisting:
Experience the Lightning
St. Anger
The Unforgiven II
Blackened
The Name of Ktulu (in reminiscence of Cliff Burton)
The 4 Horsemen (toes. Rob Trujillo)
Holier Than Thou
To Are living Is To Die
One (toes.. James Hetfield)
One (Instrumental)
Within the lore of heavy steel just a handful of artists can declare to have modified historical past, or even fewer can say they’ve achieved so two times. Input APOCALYPTICA and one in all steel’s largest, impossible luck tales. By means of any account it’s the stuff of legend, and it’s about to come back complete circle.
Solid your thoughts again thirty years. The giants of the 70s and 80s nonetheless dominated the scene, however a era of up-and-coming artists had been pushing laborious at the barriers of heavy song, after which APOCALYPTICA got here alongside and smashed them down with cello case.
Shaped in 1993 on the world-renowned Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, APOCALYPTICA started lifestyles as a loving, lo-fi nod to METALLICA from 4 classically-trained musicians with out a better ambition than to discover their favorite band’s song with their selected tool.
As founding band chief Eicca Toppinnen explains, the mission would tackle a lifetime of its personal once they in spite of everything launched “Performs Metallica By means of 4 Cellos” in 1996. Greater than a debut, it was once a monster in ready.
“We simply cherished Metallica and we would have liked to play it with the tools we had been ready to play, which simply took place to be cellos,” says Eicca. “We performed a steel membership in Helsinki, after which we had been requested to do an album and we idea the fellow will have to be kidding. Like, who listens to this shit on file? After which like 5 months after it was once launched we had been opening for Metallica. It’s nonetheless implausible to me.”
Unbeknownst to APOCALYPTICA, they’d simply boarded a rocket send that will propel them thru 8 rapturously won data, a staggering six million data offered, and a constant traveling time table that will see them bringing their uniquely symphonic thought of heaviness to each time zone and numerous pageant phases around the globe.
Extra importantly, the band would evolve and develop past the boundaries in their starting as a loving tribute to METALLICA, organising themselves as talented songwriters in their very own proper. A bunch of collaborations would stick with with artists as far-ranging as Ville Valo of HIM, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, SLIPKNOT’s Corey Taylor, and SLAYER drum hero Dave Lombardo amongst many others.
However for all of APOCALYPTICA’s numerous achievements and popularity, there may be most likely person who stands above all others. They might come to grasp and befriend METALLICA themselves, and it’s that dating which might see them no longer simply functioning at METALLICA’s thirtieth anniversary presentations in 2011 amongst different highlights, however cementing a friendship at the back of the scenes that will bespeak an impressive, mutual appreciate between the musicians. And it was once off the again of every other anniversary – when APOCALYPTICA’s debut “Performs Metallica via 4 Cellos” grew to become 25 – that the theory happened. The reaction to that marathon excursion, totalling over 200 presentations, was once laborious to forget about.
“We performed the entire first album and it was once so a lot more amusing and thrilling than we anticipated,” says Eicca. “We were given the theory to do one thing like the primary album, however we couldn’t do it in precisely the similar manner – we had to problem ourselves and convey a unconditionally new point of view to the unique power and emotion of Metallica.”
The end result was once not anything in need of a sonic love-letter – an album they’d merely, elegantly identify “Performs Metallica, Vol. 2“, and the eagerness poured into the recording mission via Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso, Paavo Lötjönen and Mikko Sirén – the band’s long-time drummer who after crowning glory of this album leaves amicably in this distinctive high-note – is apparent to listen to and spot. Perttu Kivilaakso has the same opinion, including that the brand new album – produced via longtime collaborator and studio supremo Joe Barresi – was once greater than every other collection of hits.
“We’ve been speaking about making every other Metallica album for round two decades, as there have been nonetheless such a lot of nice songs we would have liked to play! We waited for the very best second to do it. Pondering of that teenage me who’s now attending to play his favourite tracks offers me goosebumps! Out of possibly 20 tracks, 9 made it onto the album, and we wanted to determine which songs from the most recent albums would paintings, too.”

And judging via the deep cuts and up to date highlights making up APOCALYPTICA‘s 9th album, that is no mere best-of. As Eicca explains, it’s an expression of METALLICA’s large dynamic and artistic vary. And it’s about greater than which tracks. It’s who’s on it. “I’ve turn into actually just right pals with the fellows through the years, as a result of our adventure began with them,” he says.
“We opened for Metallica for 2 nights, and Lars was once so blown away – he flew to Helsinki previous than the remainder of the band so he may just see our display, and the following day the entire band was once there. We’ve by no means requested anything else from them, and so they’re such nice folks. Lars is the fellow who makes issues occur – he has this eternal imaginative and prescient.”
The following dialog would see no longer simply APOCALYPTICA proceeding their distinctive homage to some of the largest steel bands of all time. It could see them in truth that includes Rob Trujillo on a storming rendition of thrash vintage “The 4 Horsemen” as a lead unmarried, adopted via a surprising rendition “The Unforgiven II” taken from METALLICA’s 1997 liberate, “Reload” – proof-positive of the grasp musicians’ want to create a follow-up that celebrates the whole thing of METALLICA’s illustrious profession.
For his or her 3rd unmarried, the band opted to blow folks’s minds with an absolutely distinctive reimagining of “One“, taken from METALLICA’s 1988 landmark “…And Justice For All“. That includes none rather then James Hetfield voicing a spoken-word rendition of the ones inimitable, now immortal lyrics, it stands as way over a novel collaboration. It is little short of historical past within the making.
“I believe it’s improbable that James sought after to do it,” says Eicca Toppinen. “We had been all the time considering, ‘it’d be nice to at some point do one thing with Metallica!’ I believe the joy for him got here from the other method we had been taking – now and again the craziest concepts are what excites folks and that was once our problem.”
“”We used the entirety at our disposal to make it as bombastic as imaginable. It needed to be epic! The end result was once actually cinematic, with James Hetfield narrating the tale with the ones poetic lyrics. It was once robust and touching,” provides Perttu Kivilaakso. “As a fan I’ve to mention it was once implausible to in spite of everything pay attention it. I used to be in my house crying. My arms had been shaking. It was once an improbable adventure.”