By Monk
My latest choice cut comes from Finnish classical metal virtuosos Apocalyptica, who are about to turn their career full circle with their upcoming ninth studio album, ‘…Plays Metallica Vol. 2’.
The lead single, ‘The Four Horsemen’, released today, features a guest appearance from ‘Tallica bassist Rob Trujillo:
Speaking about returning to their musical roots, founding band-leader Eicca Toppinen told us:
It’s the coolest thing. We didn’t push-it was offered. We played the first album live and it was so much more fun and exciting than we expected, so we got the idea to do something like the first album, but we couldn’t do it in exactly the same way–we needed to challenge ourselves and bring a totally new perspective to the original energy and emotion of Metallica.
Lead cellist Perttu Kivilaakso adds:
We’ve been talking about making another Metallica album for around 20 years, as there were still so many great songs we wanted to play! We waited for the perfect moment to do it. Thinking of that teenage me who is now getting to play his favourite tracks gives me goosebumps!
To support the album’s release (which will be last to feature long-time drummer Mikko Sirén), the band – completed by third cellist Paavo Lötjönen – have announced a run of five dates later this year:
Tickets for all shows are on sale now.
- ‘Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol. 2‘ will be released on 7 June.