31-05-2011
Apocalyptic (Apocalyptica) is a legendary metal band from Finland playing cellos. As paradoxical as it may seem at first glance, this is the case. The group consists of four cellists, a drummer, it is worth noting that they do not have a permanent vocalist.
Initially Apocalyptic played covers of legendary metal bands, but after that she began to release her own material.
It is impossible to determine the style of the group or to characterize its scope in any way. Many music critics classify the band's music as neoclassical or symphonic metal.
Throughout the history of their existence, the musicians have attracted famous vocalists for recordings, it is worth listing only some of the groups whose vocalists took part in this unusual project: HIM, Rasmus, Sepultura, Three Days Grace, Rammstein,
The very idea to create a non-traditional rock band originated back in 1993. At that time, in the camp, which was located in the city of Helsinki, the guys (schoolchildren) were preparing a program for the performance and decided to present something new to it. It was about performing a couple of "metal songs" played with a classic twist. This experiment was very successful; gave a chair for the continuation of the implementation of his idea, only this time the approach to music became more serious.
After the concert program was ready, the musicians performed the song twice (namely, their vision of the famous covers) in their music academy, and after the rest of the musicians joined the Apocalyptic, concerts swept the local rock clubs.
In 1995, their concert activity brings a long-awaited success, performances are increasingly taking place at large venues and not in small rock bars. The audience that comes to their concerts already reaches 50,000 people! The fact that at that time there was a tour in Finland played a favorable role, having heard about the success of local nuggets, the legendary band invites them to warm up! This was a real breakthrough for creativity, the group Apocalyptica Finally, powerful people notice.
In December 1995, Zen Garden Records offered to release and record a whole album of the band's songs. Metallica.
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This album was released in 1996. It is worth noting that within 12 months it was sold out in the amount of 250,000 copies, and two tracks from this debut album were used in the future film "Your Friends and Neighbors"
The recording of the first full-length album began only in 1998. It was like covers of famous bands ( Sepultura, Metallica, Pantera), but also their own tracks. This album "Inquisition Symphony" created a real boom in the world of rock music. Its sales rating reached unprecedented levels (in Finland). Video clips for Nothing Else Matters and Harmageddon were also shot to support the album.
After that, the group began to look completely different. The famous band Bush invited Apocalyptic to take part in the recording of their single called Letting the Cables Sleep.
During this period of time, the first world tour begins, which lasted for a spirit of years. The group visits Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Lithuania and even Mexico with concerts. Next in line were large open airs and a visit to Russia (St. Petersburg and Moscow)
The year 2000 opens a new round in the development of the group - the album "Cult" is released. It consisted entirely of their own tracks, with the exception of two covers by the band Metallica and a cover of the play In the Cave of the Mountain King. One of the songs from this album became the official soundtrack (OST) for the film "Vidok".
In conclusion, it can be said that Apocalyptica opened up a whole new direction in rock music. Their albums are sold today in hundreds of thousands of copies, and the songs are listened to all over the world, and most of them occupy the top lines of the music charts.
The musicians released several more albums and singles. The army of their fans has become very impressive, of course, as in any group in Apocalyptic, there are also disagreements, but one way or another - the guys make their own music.
The original composition of Apocalyptica consisted of four cellists: Eikka Toppinen, Max Lilja, Paavo Lötjönen and Antero Manninen, with a classical musical education. The young men studied together at the conservatory and were fans of heavy metal music. Max Lilja recalled:
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We, the musicians of Apocalyptica, have known each other for over 10 years. We met many times at summer camps for musicians. Before we started playing Metallica, we had already played Jimi Hendrix songs and stuff like that on two or three cellos, so the idea of playing something strange and unusual on them was by no means new to us. We are all big fans of heavy music, and Metallica is our favorite band in general. It was the summer of 1993. We were preparing an entertainment program for one of the summer camps and wanted to offer the listeners something special. So we decided to try to play a couple of "metal" songs for our friends, musicians with a classical education. I must admit, we had a lot of fun then! Moreover, we even had some success! |
After that performance, the musicians had the idea to approach experiments with heavy music more seriously. They performed the program twice within the walls of their native academy, and then, when Apocalyptica became a quartet, they began to perform in the rock clubs of the Finnish capital.
In the name of the group, the musicians combined the word "apocalypse" and their love for Metallica. This is how the name Apocalyptica was born.
Starting from 1995, Apocalyptica began to perform at large venues, the attendance of their concerts in a year already reaches fifty thousand. During Metallica's tour of Finland, the quartet was invited to perform as the opening act for their idols.
In December of that year, a representative of the local firm Zen Garden Records suggested that the band release an entire album of Metallica songs. Debut album Apocalyptica Plays Metallica by Four Cellos(translated from English - Apocalyptic plays Metallica on four cellos) was published in the same 1996, and in a year it sold 250 thousand copies. Two tracks from the disc were used in the American film Your Friends and Neighbors.
In 1998, Apocalyptica began recording an album Inquisition Symphony which was published in April. For the first time, in addition to cover versions of songs by Metallica, Sepultura, Pantera and Faith No More, the band also presented on the disc their own compositions written by Eikka Toppinen. Inquisition Symphony was met with high sales ratings, reaching the top ten on the album sales chart in Finland. Two music videos - "Harmageddon" and "Nothing Else Matters" - were filmed in support of the album.
In addition, Apocalyptica participated in the recording of albums by Heiland and Waltari, a solo project of two members of the Leningrad Cowboys, released a single with her own interpretation of the famous Christmas song "O Holy Night", and also performed at a music festival along with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. In early 2000, Apocalyptica featured on grunge band Bush's single "Letting the Cables Sleep". For this track, the band used a full symphony orchestra for the first time.
Following the release of the album, Apocalyptica again went on tour, abandoning work and study. Over the next two years, the group visited Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Mexico, and their concerts were held in halls with a capacity of at least two thousand people. In the summer of 1999, the band played the European metal festival Dynamo Open Air in the Dutch city of Eindhoven in front of an audience of around 30,000 people. In 2000, the group visited Saint Petersburg and Moscow.
In October 2000, the third disc Apocalyptica was released - Cult. The album is considered a watershed in the direction of the band's development - almost all of the album's material was now written by Eikka Toppinen. Of the foreign compositions on the disc, there were only two Metallica covers and an interpretation of Edvard Grieg's play "In the Hall of the Mountain King". During the recording of this album, up to 80 cellos were used simultaneously. The song "Hope" from this album, performed by Matthias Sayer from the band Farmer Boys included in the soundtrack of the film "Vidok" with Gerard Depardieu. "Path" and "Hope" were set to music by Sandra Nasich (Guano Apes) and Matthias Sayer (Farmer Boys) and were included in a special edition called "Path Vol.2" and "Hope Vol.2" respectively. Music videos were made for both versions of the song "Path".
In support of the album, Apocalyptica undertook a world tour, visiting the United States and South America for the first time in March, as well as performing alongside Rammstein. In total, in 2005 the group played more than 150 shows in dozens of countries in Europe and America. In November, the group gave several concerts in different cities of Russia. In the same year, the musicians, with the participation of Triplex, took part in the recording of the soundtrack for the Russian sports drama Shadow Fight. The composition performed by them was written by composer Alexey Shelygin and was nominated for the RMA MTV Russia award.
All compositions with the participation of vocalists, previously published on singles, were included in 2006 in the anniversary collection Amplified: a Decade of Reinventing the Cello, dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the concert activity of the group.
In 2007, Apocalyptica recorded an album Worlds Collide, featuring Till Lindemann (Rammstein), Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace), Christina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer) and guitarist Tomoyatsu Hotei.
Apocalyptica acted as invited guests at Eurovision - 2007 during the counting of votes. The band played the title track from a then-unreleased album Worlds Collide and a medley of two of his songs, "Faraway" and "Life Burns". On June 12, 2009, the group performed at the Russian rock festival "Rock over the Volga" in the Samara region, along with Russian rock bands. On April 2, 2010, the group performed for the first time in Minsk on the stage of the Palace of the Republic (Minsk).
The band's seventh album was titled 7th Symphony(With English- "Seventh Symphony"). Produced by Joe Barracie and Howard Banson (although he only produced 2 tracks). Released August 23, 2010 in Europe, August 20, 2010 in Germany and August 24, 2010 in the US. The first single was played on the radio on June 29, 2010.
The album includes 8 instrumental tracks and 4 tracks with guest vocalists. The vocals on the song "End of Me", released as an independent single, are provided by Gavin Rossdale, the former vocalist of the band Bush. Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo plays on "2010"; "Bring Them to Light" was recorded with Joe Duplantier - vocalist and guitarist for the French death metal band Gojira; "Broken Pieces" - with American post-grunge band Flyleaf vocalist Lacey Sturm; "Not Strong Enough" – with Brent Smith of American hard rock band Shinedown.
The video for the 1st single was filmed at the end of May 2010 and was released on July 2. Following the video for "End of Me", the shooting of the video for the song "Broken Pieces" took place. The video was released at the end of September 2010. The third video - "Not Strong Enough" with Brent Smith - was released almost two more weeks later.
Album Wagner Reloaded (With English- "Wagner: Reloaded") was released on November 15, 2013 as a recording of concerts in Leipzig on July 5 and 6 of the same year.
Dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the famous German composer Richard Wagner. Apocalyptica received an offer to write music for a stage play. During the action, the musicians are also part of what is happening on stage. The world premiere of the production, which combined choreography, theater, scenery, visual effects and live music - Wagner from a new angle of perception and performance, took place on July 5, 2013 in Leipzig.
Eikka Toppinen
Eikka Toppinen (nickname "Rankka", Finnish rankka - strong, heavy) began learning to play the cello at the age of nine, but after a while he decided to start playing the drums. He has played in various orchestras such as the Radio Symphony Orchestra and Avanti. He was also a member of the Sibelius Academy Cello Sextet. Eicca arranges all Metallica songs (with the exception of "One", which was arranged by Max Lilja) and composes his own compositions. Now he also plays many solo parts.
Perttu Kivilaakso
He started playing the cello at the age of 5, imitating his father. Perttu joined Apocalyptica in time for the recording of the Cult album. He was and still is a musician of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He replaced Antero Manninen at Apocalyptica, who left Apocalyptica to pursue his career with the Philharmonic Orchestra. Perttu could have joined Apocalyptica much earlier, when he was only about 16 or 17 years old, but the rest of the Apocalyptica members felt that being in the group could negatively impact his career as a classical musician. Perttu has a lifetime contract with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
Paavo Lötjönen
Everyone in the family is a musician (parents and grandparents), and when Paavo turned seven, he took the cello in his small hands. He decided that this would be the instrument he would play. Twenty years later, he received his cello diploma from the Finnish Sibelius Academy and began working as a teacher at a music school. He also played at the Finnish National Opera.
Mikko Siren
Drummer Apocalyptic. He has been playing in it since 2003, but only in 2005 was he declared a "full" member of the group. Mikko tried himself as a guitarist and vocalist in other projects, as well as a DJ.
In a recent interview with APOCALYPTICA drummer Mikko Sirén, he answered the question of why, seventeen years later, the band decided to re-record an all-instrumental record: "This decision was based on the reaction of the audience to how inspired and enthusiastic they were when we performed such music, and we ended up saying to our agent, “We need a seven-month vacation. We need to record this album. We can't do it while on tour. It took us two months to write the music. Then within five months we recorded everything, edited and mixed the material. It all took just that long. When we went into the studio with that mindset deep down, we wouldn't have made it if we were touring in the middle of the process. Even though it didn't go exactly as we originally planned, now that we're seeing the result, we're more than happy that we've managed to create something like this. It doesn't mean that we don't really like recording with vocals, but since the previous four albums were filled with enough vocals, we decided that we should stop and take a break and record just an instrumental disc. On whether he prefers to record instrumental albums or albums with guest vocals: “At this point, I wouldn't go any other way. At the moment it was absolutely the best way for our creativity. The same as was the case with "Shadowmaker" which we did with, as far as I remember, eight or nine vocal tracks. We felt at the time that this was absolutely what we wanted to do and we were lucky to be doing both. We have to make the vocal tracks we like and we have to go so far into the extremes of instrumental music like the progressive metal we love to make. That's what the band is all about, one of the key features that we've had from the very beginning. We cannot stand still or stagnate. There should be a feeling that we are developing, challenging ourselves, that we are moving forward. Already after the release of the second album, when the band started as a cover band, there were people who said: "You can't change the concept. You need to keep doing cover versions. That's what you need to do." And all this needed to be changed. In the end, we decided: "We need to make original music." People's reaction to that was, "You can't use vocalists." In the end, we invited them. "You can't use drums," they continued. And so we got drums. And that's all we need to move forward. Despite the fact that now, moving forward, we are heading back. We are returning to the roots. However, for us, everything is moving forward, developing to some extent thanks to the knowledge and experience that we now have compared to where we started. We do things differently. I don't say "better" but we do it differently from how it was on the first album. So I have a feeling that even if we do the same thing, we do it differently.” On the writing process: “Oh, it was really fast. Most of the ideas have accumulated over 2.5 years in tour buses. You really talk a lot - one might even say too much. This is a concept album. Besides the music, it was very important for us that we come up with an accompaniment for the music, that we come up with a story and depth in the music. In instrumental music, everything is so abstract, because the only thing you really give the listener is the title of the album and the title of the song." On the concept of the new album: “'Cell-0', as we say the title, is an imaginary concept that we came up with. You can call it "God Particle". In our heads there is something indefinite that cannot be accurately described, something that cannot be seen or felt, but it is something that cannot be seen or felt, but it is. It's kind of like the center of everything on this album. In this album, a lot of attention is paid to something real, a lot of attention is paid to grains, how everything is arranged from the smallest particles; speaking at the cellular level, to create something alive, you need a lot of cells, you need a lot of cells to create something; at the atomic level, it takes many atoms to create anything. But even if something can be created from cells, this does not mean that it will be alive. There must be a zero cell. There must be an essence of something. And that's how it was from a musical point of view. If you think about music, it's made of tiny particles. There are notes, there are pauses, there are rhythms, there is this and that and something else. When you put it all together, it's almost music, but it lacks the soul, the soul of a song that you can't score. You can't arrange it in a set of musical notes. These are emotions. X Factor. This is "Cell-0" for music. When we talk about all these particles and stuff, we're talking mostly about politics, social issues, environmental issues, or something like that. It was one of those things that amazingly separated people from each other, from nature, from the earth and everything else. Maybe "Cell-0" is the only thing we've lost. We no longer have the opportunity to contact, especially in the last ten years. The world has changed."
The prehistory of this very peculiar project began in 1993, when four students of the Helsinki Academy of Music named after Jean Sibelius, for the sake of fun, undertook to play the compositions of the group "Metallica" on the cellos. Eikka Toppinen, Paavo Lothonen, Max Lilja and Antero Manninen did not even think about world fame in such an unusual field, but simply did what they liked. However, the talent of the musicians could not be ignored, and when the guys performed at the "Teatro Heavy Metal Club", they were offered a contract by the owner of the independent label "Zen Garden Records" Kari Hinninen. The beginning was difficult, because the cello guys wanted to finish their studies, and Kari did not always have enough money to pay for studio time. Nevertheless, the work was still completed, and the first thing the musicians did was to send the recorded tapes to their idols from "Metallica".
In response, the Finns received a "go-ahead" by fax. Moreover, the "Metallic" label "Mercury Records" took over the distribution of the debut album "Apocalyptica", thanks to which all the costs incurred were more than paid off. Already from the title of the disc "Apocalyptica Plays Metallica By Four Cellos" it was clear whose covers and in what processing are presented here.
The band's first official concert took place in front of an audience of 1,000 people at the "Load" album release party. Then it went on increasing, and already at the fourth performance there were about 50,000 spectators, and at the end of the year the group was honored to open concerts of their idols in Helsinki. In 1998, "Apocalyptica" with the participation of producer Hiili Hiilesma ("H.I.M.") recorded the second full-length, "Inquisition Symphony". This time, along with covers of "Metallica", there were arrangements of things "Sepultura", "Faith No More" and "Pantera" on the disc. In addition, Toppinen wrote three of his own compositions, which were quite well combined with Metallica's "Fight Fire With Fire". In 1999, Antero Manninen replaced Pertta Kivilaakso, so the third album "Apocalyptica" was recorded with a new line-up.
"Cult" differed from its predecessors in that the covers gave way to original material, mostly by Toppinen. At the same time, the "apocalyptics" for the first time tried to use vocals in their work, and thus the songs "Path Vol. 2" with the participation of Sandra Nasik from "Guano Apes" and "Hope Vol. 2" with Matthias Sayer from "Farmer Boys" were born .
By the time "Cult" was released, the band had become one of the most profitable Finnish musical exports. Cello metallers managed to visit more than 60 countries of the world and almost everywhere their concerts were sold out. However, the unprecedented success did not keep Max Lilju from leaving, and in 2002 the "apocalyptic" composition was reduced to a trio. The following year, the experimental album "Reflections" was released, on which piano, trumpet, double bass, violins and drums were added to the cellos. Drummers include two distinguished guests, Dave Lombardo of Slayer and Sami Kuoppamaki of Stratovarius. The release of "Reflections" was accompanied by the singles "Faraway" and "Seemann", the latter featuring German punk's grandmother Nina Hagen.
The fifth album "Apocalyptica" also did not do without guests, but this time, together with Lombardo, Ville Vallo from "H.I.M." and Lauri Ylönen from "Rasmus" contributed to the creation of the disc. The functions of the main drummer in this work were performed by Mikko Siren, who later became an official member of the team. The band celebrated its tenth anniversary with the release of the retrospective album "Amplified - A Decade Of Reinventing The Cello".
Last update 12.02.07The group consists of 3 cellists and a drummer. Initially famous for instrumental cover versions of compositions by famous thrash metal bands, Apocalyptica later began releasing material of its own composition.
The band's genre is not amenable to unambiguous definition, but it is most often characterized as symphonic metal or cello metal. Most of the compositions are instrumental, but Apocalyptica also attracted vocalists from Slipknot, The Rasmus, HIM, Sepultura, Guano Apes, Rammstein, Soulfly, Bullet For My Valentine, Lacuna Coil, Three Days Grace, Bush, Shinedown, Flyleaf, Gojira, for joint recordings, Oomph! , Hoobastank , Nina Hagen .
The original composition of Apocalyptica consisted of four cellists: Eikka Toppinen, Max Lilja, Paavo Lötjönen and Antero Manninen, who had a classical musical education. The young men studied together at the conservatory and were fans of heavy metal music. Max Lilja recalled:
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We, the musicians of Apocalyptica, have known each other for over 10 years. We met many times at summer camps for musicians. Before we started playing Metallica, we had already played Jimi Hendrix songs and stuff like that on two or three cellos, so the idea of playing something strange and unusual on them was by no means new to us. We are all big fans of heavy music, and Metallica is our favorite band in general. It was the summer of 1993. We were preparing an entertainment program for one of the summer camps and wanted to offer the listeners something special. So we decided to try to play a couple of "metal" songs for our friends, musicians with a classical education. I must admit, we had a lot of fun then! Moreover, we even had some success! |
After that performance, the musicians had the idea to approach experiments with heavy music more seriously. They performed the program twice within the walls of their native academy, and then, when Apocalyptica became a quartet, they began to perform in the rock clubs of the Finnish capital.
In the name of the group, the musicians combined the word "apocalypse" and their love for Metallica. This is how the name Apocalyptica was born.
Starting from 1995, Apocalyptica began to perform at large venues, the attendance of their concerts in a year already reaches fifty thousand. During Metallica's tour of Finland, the quartet was invited to perform as the opening act for their idols.
In December of that year, a representative of the local firm Zen Garden Records suggested that the band release an entire album of Metallica songs. Debut album Apocalyptica Plays Metallica by Four Cellos(translated from English. - Apocalyptic plays Metallica on four cellos) was published in the same 1996, and in a year it sold 250 thousand copies. Two tracks from the disc were used in the American film Your Friends and Neighbors.
In 1998, Apocalyptica began recording an album Inquisition Symphony which was published in April. For the first time, in addition to cover versions of songs by Metallica, Sepultura, Pantera and Faith No More, the band also presented on the disc their own compositions written by Eikka Toppinen. Inquisition Symphony was met with high sales ratings, reaching the top ten on the album sales chart in Finland. Two music videos - "Harmageddon" and "Nothing Else Matters" - were filmed in support of the album.
In addition, Apocalyptica participated in the recording of albums by Heiland and Waltari, a solo project of two members of the Leningrad Cowboys, released a single with her own interpretation of the famous Christmas song "O Holy Night", and also performed at a music festival along with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. In early 2000, Apocalyptica featured on grunge band Bush's single "Letting the Cables Sleep". For this track, the band used a full symphony orchestra for the first time.
Following the release of the album, Apocalyptica again went on tour, abandoning work and study. Over the next two years, the group visited Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Mexico, and their concerts were held in halls with a capacity of at least two thousand people. In the summer of 1999, the band played the European metal festival Dynamo Open Air in the Dutch city of Eindhoven in front of an audience of around 30,000 people. In 2000, the group visited Saint Petersburg and Moscow.
In October 2000, the third disc Apocalyptica was released - Cult. The album is considered a watershed in the direction of the band's development - almost all of the album's material was now written by Eikka Toppinen. Of the foreign compositions on the disc, there were only two Metallica covers and an interpretation of Edvard Grieg's play "In the Hall of the Mountain King". During the recording of this album, up to 80 cellos were used simultaneously. The song "Hope" from this album, performed by Matthias Sayer from the band Farmer Boys included in the soundtrack of the film "Vidok" with Gerard Depardieu. "Path" and "Hope" were set to music by Sandra Nasich (Guano Apes) and Matthias Sayer (Farmer Boys) and were included in a special edition called "Path Vol.2" and "Hope Vol.2" respectively. Music videos were made for both versions of the song "Path".
In support of the album, Apocalyptica undertook a world tour, visiting the United States and South America for the first time in March, as well as performing alongside Rammstein. In total, in 2005 the group played more than 150 shows in dozens of countries in Europe and America. In November, the group gave several concerts in different cities of Russia. In the same year, the musicians, with the participation of Triplex, took part in the recording of the soundtrack for the Russian sports drama Shadow Fight. The composition performed by them was written by composer Alexey Shelygin and was nominated for the RMA MTV Russia award.
All compositions with the participation of vocalists, previously published on singles, were included in 2006 in the anniversary collection Amplified: a Decade of Reinventing the Cello, dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the concert activity of the group.
In 2007, Apocalyptica recorded an album Worlds Collide, featuring Till Lindemann (Rammstein), Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace), Christina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer) and guitarist Tomoyatsu Hotei.
Apocalyptica acted as invited guests at Eurovision - 2007 during the counting of votes. The band played the title track from a then-unreleased album Worlds Collide and a medley of two of his songs, "Faraway" and "Life Burns". On June 12, 2009, the group performed at the Russian rock festival "Rock over the Volga" in the Samara region, along with Russian rock bands. On April 2, 2010, the group performed for the first time in Minsk on the stage of the Palace of the Republic (Minsk).
The band's 7th album was titled 7th Symphony (with English- "Seventh Symphony"). Produced by Joe Barracie and Howard Banson (although he only produced 2 tracks). Released August 23, 2010 in Europe, August 20, 2010 in Germany and August 24, 2010 in the US. The first single was played on the radio on June 29, 2010.
The album includes 8 instrumental tracks and 4 tracks with guest vocalists. The vocals on the song "End of Me", released as an independent single, are provided by Gavin Rossdale, the former vocalist of the band Bush. Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo plays on "2010"; "Bring Them to Light" was recorded with Joe Duplantier - vocalist and guitarist for the French death metal band Gojira; "Broken Pieces" - with American post-grunge band Flyleaf vocalist Lacey Sturm; "Not Strong Enough" – with Brent Smith of American hard rock band Shinedown.
The video for the 1st single was filmed at the end of May 2010 and was released on July 2. Following the video for "End of Me", the shooting of the video for the song "Broken Pieces" took place. The video was released at the end of September 2010. The third video - "Not Strong Enough" with Brent Smith - was released almost two more weeks later.
Album Wagner:Reloaded (with English- Wagner: Reloaded) was released on November 15, 2013 as a recording of a live performance in Leipzig on July 5 and 6, 2013.
Dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the famous German composer Richard Wagner. Apocalyptica received an offer to write music for a stage production. During the action, the musicians are also part of what is happening on stage. The world premiere of the production, which combined choreography, theater, scenery, visual effects and live music - Wagner from a new angle of perception and performance, took place on July 5, 2013 in Leipzig.
Eikka Toppinen (nickname "Rankka", Finnish rankka - strong, heavy) began learning to play the cello at the age of nine, but after a while he decided to start playing the drums. He has played in various orchestras such as the Radio Symphony Orchestra and Avanti. He was also a member of the Sibelius Academy Cello Sextet. Eicca arranges all Metallica songs (with the exception of "One", which was arranged by Max Lilja) and composes his own compositions. Now he also plays many solo parts.
He started playing the cello at the age of 5, imitating his father. Perttu joined Apocalyptica in time for the recording of the Cult album. He was and still is a musician of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He replaced Antero Manninen at Apocalyptica, who left Apocalyptica to pursue his career with the Philharmonic Orchestra. Perttu could have joined Apocalyptica much earlier, when he was only about 16 or 17 years old, but the rest of the Apocalyptica members felt that being in the group could negatively impact his career as a classical musician. Perttu has a lifetime contract with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
Everyone in the family is a musician (parents and grandparents), and when Paavo turned seven, he took the cello in his small hands. He decided that this would be the instrument he would play. Twenty years later, he received his cello diploma from the Finnish Sibelius Academy and began working as a teacher at a music school. He also played at the Finnish National Opera.
Drummer Apocalyptic. He has been playing in it since 2003, but only in 2005 was he declared a "full" member of the group. Mikko tried himself as a guitarist and vocalist in other projects, as well as a DJ.
He began playing the cello at the age of seven. Played in many orchestras. He joined Apocalyptica in 1993 when it was being created, but after recording the first two albums he left Apocalyptica and returned to the Lahti City Philharmonic Orchestra. After the departure of Max Lilja from Apocalyptica, Antero Manninen returned to the live lineup of the band. He does not take part in the creation and recording of new albums, he only plays at concerts.
At first he learned to play the violin, but did not get much pleasure from this. When he was seven, he decided that he would change the violin for the cello. At the age of nine he entered the Academy of Music, becoming the youngest student. He has played in various orchestras such as Avanti, Kuopio City Orchestra. In January 2002, Max decided to leave Apocalyptica due to constant conflicts with other members. Now Max plays in the rock band Hevein, and also participates in the concerts of Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish) in support of her album My Winter Storm. In April 2013, Max is preparing to release his solo album Plays Electronica By One Cello, which combines electric cello and classical acoustic instrumentation.
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At the glow of the first fire that broke out on September 2, from different roads, with different feelings, the fleeing and leaving residents and the retreating troops looked.
That night the Rostov train stopped at Mytishchi, twenty versts from Moscow. On September 1, they left so late, the road was so cluttered with wagons and troops, so many things were forgotten, for which people were sent, that that night it was decided to spend the night five miles beyond Moscow. The next morning we set off late, and again there were so many stops that we only reached Bolshiye Mytishchi. At ten o'clock, the Rostovs and the wounded who were traveling with them all settled in the yards and huts of a large village. The people, the coachmen of the Rostovs and the batmen of the wounded, having removed the gentlemen, had supper, fed the horses, and went out onto the porch.
In a neighboring hut, Raevsky's wounded adjutant lay, with a broken hand, and the terrible pain that he felt made him moan plaintively, without ceasing, and these moans sounded terribly in the autumn darkness of the night. On the first night, this adjutant spent the night in the same courtyard where the Rostovs stood. The countess said that she could not close her eyes from this groan, and in Mytishchi she moved to the worst hut only in order to be away from this wounded man.
One of the people in the darkness of the night, from behind the high body of the carriage standing at the entrance, noticed another small glow of the fire. One glow had already been visible for a long time, and everyone knew that it was the Little Mytishchi burning, lit by the Mamon Cossacks.
“But this, brothers, is another fire,” said the batman.
Everyone turned their attention to the glow.
- Why, they said, Mamonov Cossacks lit Maly Mytishchi.
- They are! No, this is not Mytishchi, it is far away.
“Look, it’s definitely in Moscow.
Two of the men stepped off the porch, went behind the carriage, and sat down on the footboard.
- It's left! Well, Mytishchi is over there, and this is completely on the other side.
Several people joined the first.
- Look, it's blazing, - said one, - this, gentlemen, is a fire in Moscow: either in Sushchevskaya or in Rogozhskaya.
Nobody responded to this remark. And for a long time all these people silently looked at the distant flames of a new fire.
The old man, the count's valet (as he was called), Danilo Terentyich, went up to the crowd and called out to Mishka.
- You didn’t see anything, slut ... The count will ask, but there is no one; go get your dress.
- Yes, I just ran for water, - said Mishka.
- And what do you think, Danilo Terentyich, it's like a glow in Moscow? one of the footmen said.
Danilo Terentyich made no answer, and again everyone was silent for a long time. The glow spread and swayed further and further.
“God have mercy! .. wind and dry land ...” the voice said again.
- Look how it went. Oh my God! you can see the jackdaws. Lord, have mercy on us sinners!
- They'll put it out.
- Who to put out then? came the voice of Danila Terentyich, who had been silent until now. His voice was calm and slow. “Moscow is indeed, brothers,” he said, “she is the mother of the squirrel…” His voice broke off, and he suddenly let out an old sob. And as if everyone was just waiting for this in order to understand the meaning that this visible glow had for them. There were sighs, words of prayer, and the sobbing of the old count's valet.
The valet, returning, reported to the count that Moscow was on fire. The count put on his dressing-gown and went out to have a look. Sonya, who had not yet undressed, and Madame Schoss came out with him. Natasha and the countess were alone in the room. (Petya was no longer with the family; he went ahead with his regiment, marching to Trinity.)
The Countess wept when she heard the news of the fire in Moscow. Natasha, pale, with fixed eyes, sitting under the icons on the bench (in the very place where she sat down when she arrived), did not pay any attention to her father's words. She listened to the incessant groan of the adjutant, heard through three houses.
- Oh, what a horror! - said, come back from the yard, cold and frightened Sonya. - I think all of Moscow will burn, a terrible glow! Natasha, look now, you can see it from the window from here, ”she said to her sister, apparently wanting to entertain her with something. But Natasha looked at her, as if not understanding what she was being asked, and again stared with her eyes at the corner of the stove. Natasha has been in this state of tetanus since this morning, from the very time that Sonya, to the surprise and annoyance of the countess, for no reason at all, found it necessary to announce to Natasha about the wound of Prince Andrei and about his presence with them on the train. The countess was angry with Sonya, as she rarely got angry. Sonya cried and asked for forgiveness, and now, as if trying to make amends for her guilt, she did not stop caring for her sister.
“Look, Natasha, how terribly it burns,” said Sonya.
- What is on fire? Natasha asked. – Oh, yes, Moscow.
And as if in order not to offend Sonya by her refusal and to get rid of her, she moved her head to the window, looked so that she obviously could not see anything, and again sat down in her former position.
- Didn't you see it?
“No, really, I saw it,” she said in a pleading voice.
Both the countess and Sonya understood that Moscow, the fire of Moscow, whatever it was, of course, could not matter to Natasha.
The count again went behind the partition and lay down. The countess went up to Natasha, touched her head with her upturned hand, as she did when her daughter was sick, then touched her forehead with her lips, as if to find out if there was a fever, and kissed her.
