Chosen by Monk
You could say it’s a case of “three, two, one” with this week’s selection. It is the third single to be issued from Finnish classicists Apocalyptica’s forthcoming new album, which sees them turning the circle by once again delving into the back catalogue of the band who inspired them to meld classical music and heavy metal into a uniquely homogeneous whole. It is also their second successive single to win our coveted #VideoOfTheWeek accolade. And it is their suitably epic and grandiose re-interpretation of the iconic songs, not only in Metallica’s canon but also that of the entire heavy metal genre: ‘ONE’.
As if that wasn’t enough, the single sees Metallica frontman James Hetfield joining proceedings for a soul-stirring, spoken word of those now immortal lyrics. More than a unique collaboration, this is history in the making, as cellist Eicca Toppinen comments:
I think it’s incredible that James wanted to do it. We were always thinking ‘it’d be great to someday do something with Metallica!’ I think the excitement for him came from the different approach we were taking – sometimes the craziest ideas are what excites people and that was our challenge.
Speaking about the trio’s treatment of what many might have seen as an “untouchable” song, Perttu Kivilaakso added:
We used everything at our disposal to make it as bombastic as possible. It had to be epic! The result was truly cinematic, with James Hetfield narrating the story with those poetic lyrics. It was powerful and touching. As a fan I have to say it was unbelievable to finally hear it. I was in my home crying. My hands were shaking. It was an incredible journey.
- ‘Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol. 2‘, featuring the previously released ‘The Four Horsemen‘ and ‘The Unforgiven II‘, as well as an instrumental version of ‘One’ and six other re-imaginings of Metallica classics and deep cuts, will be released on 7 June.
- Apocalyptica tour later in the year:
