Cello rock

As soon as they started playing, I closed my eyes and was travelling in a different space and time. Slowly the cellos started coming from the background, they were all at a different plane but still all were approaching the same oasis. Like the gallops of a nightrider in the far horizon, I could sense what was coming. And then they all reached together, in tandem. Now I could feel the resonance, I could feel the rhythm, I could read the melancholy. Apocalyptica had arrived. This genre of “Cello Rock” simply transported me into a hitherto unknown plateau. Hearing them play Sepultra, Pantera, Rammstein and Faith No More is simply great. I mean the last thing you would expect from a bunch of students from Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, one of the best classical schools, is to get up on stage in dark leather outfits with their cellos and play heavy metal. I mean it’s a strange genre. What if I told you, "Hey, you know what, I play Gothic Country." Seems strange, doesn't it. That’s what I thought when I heard about this band who plays hard metal on cellos. But I was ripped out of my senses as soon as I heard Bittersweet. The song starts with a nice intro and then you have HIM's Ville Valo and The Rasmus' Lauri Ylönen's vocal duel. Any leading vocalist would consider it to be an honor, singing with Apocalyptica. They started their career by doing covers for metallica. They did their first gig at the Teatro Heavy Metal Club, where they played Metallica covers. It was just a word of mouth publicity for these strange classical rockers and soon Mettalica’s record label, Mercury recognized the raw potential in this genre and offered worldwide distribution for their first recorded CD, “ Apocalyptica Plays Metallica By Four cellos”. For a debut album, one million CD’s sold till date is terrific by any standards. The band consists of Eicca Toppinen on cello, Paavo Lotjonen on Cello, Perttu Kivilaakso on cello and Mikko Siren on Drums. My favs: Bittersweet (both Acoustic and instrumental Fight Fire with Fire (Metallica Cover) Delusion (From Reflections Revised) Driven (From Best of Apocalyptica)