Apocalyptica VIDEOS

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Apocalyptica

Years Active   
Genres  Rock  
Styles  Heavy Metal
Labels  Mercury Canada (3)
Internet links  On-Tour - provided by musictoday.com
  
by Jason Ankeny

The Helsinki, Finland quartet Apocalyptica comprised classically-trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Max Lilja, Antero Manninen and Paavo Lotjonen; formed in 1993, the group made waves internationally in 1996 with Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, which combined their formal background with their love of heavy metal. The album found favor with both classical buffs and metal heads alike, and two years later Apocalyptica resurfaced with Inquisition Symphony, which featured covers of material by Faith No More and Pantera.  


Labels  Mercury Canada (3)
APOCALYPTICA
Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lotjonen, Perttu Kivilaakso

rel. date: 10.02.2003

Pulling classical strings now and getting tough!

Their new album ”Reflections” (release date: February 10, 2003) will catapult Apocalyptica, the heavy cello thunder from the darkest depths of Finland, straight out of their image of being the most unique cover-band in the world. Where once Metallica, Slayer, and Sepultura ruled the world of the classically-trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilakso, it is now their very own musical self.

”Apocalyptica has always been very creative project definitely rooted in the here and now”, is how Perttu Kivilakso, at 24 the youngest of the now down to three riders of the apocalypse, explains the philosophy behind the new album. ”Once, creativity for us meant imitating the typical Heavy Metal guitar sound on our instruments. Now it means exploring our own musical vision. We simply wanted to employ our instruments on a much wider scale and also got interested in developing new techniques for the cello.”
Hundreds and hundreds of lonely hours were spent in the studio searching for their own sound. The result, plain and simple: ”We created a new musical style, cello-rock.”
On their predecessor ”Cult”, Apocalyptica had first dissolved musical boundaries. Back home in Finland, the album was consequently reviewed by journalists from the classical terrain – ”and what’s wrong with that?” is all Paavo Lötjönen (at 32, the oldest member of the band) has for a comment. ”We are professionals, we are very serious about what we are doing and we approach our music with sincerity – so where’s the problem?”
Well, there is none. Apocalyptica is simply in the front line of an indigeneous Finnish music culture where artists strive to mix and match the most varied of musical styles.
Rarely, though, is the resulting effort as seemlessly perfect as on ”Reflections”.

Apocalyptica’s musical influences range from the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich to Heavy Metal and opera and are so multifarious that bridging them takes more than a simple balancing act. The mastery of such monumental sounds requires ability and exceptional flexibility. Eicca Toppinen, the group’s main composer and at 27 still too young to be in any way affected by the Heavy Metal adage ”If it’s too loud you’re too old” proudly takes stock:

”Faraway”, the the most important ballad on the album, ends with a baffling phat groove and throughout the song thoroughly finishes off any traces of the effete in cello-playing which the sound-heavy Finns find rearing its ugly head all over the place (except on their own album, that is). ”Cortège” is similarly complex: ”We combined classical orchestration with reminiscences of Dmitri Shostakovich and added some Slayer-styled really hard and dark metal on top.” Quite convenient, then, that Dave Lombardo, drummer of said trash legend Slayer, was the hired hand on four additional songs on ”Reflections” as well,”Prologue”, ”No Education”, ”Somewhere Around Nothing” and ”Resurrection”.
Perttu Kivilakso wrote three songs for the new album, ”Resurrection”, ”Pandemonium”, and ”Conclusion”. "”Conclusion” was a wish come true for him and the other band-members: ”A beautiful song as a showcase for classical cello at its best. We had been missing out on the pure classical beautiful cello sound on our previous albums – this time we wrote a song where we could play out that longing.”
Other longings were also given vent, because Apocalyptica does not just feed on Heavy Metal which, although, according to youngster Perttu’s credible assertions, it has accompanied them since cradle days. They mostly feed on the beauty of Finnish nature. ”The shockingly dark woods, the enormous space and beauty of Lapland, the breathtaking lakeviews – all of that is inspiration for us.” Evoked quite wonderfully in ”Cohkka”, a mountain named in the Samish language. Rather lively instead is ”Somewhere Around Nothing”. ”The best groove ever on an Apocalyptica album”, enthuses Perttu. ”Big thanks should go to Mr. Lombardo!”
Eicca Toppinen also wrote the last song on the album which takes the band beyond their new philosophy: He wrote ”Epilogue (Relief)” originally for the stage version of Fjodor Dostojevsky’s ”Crime And Punishment”. ”The last act revolves around the redemption of Raskolnikov. The song found its place at the end of the album immediately. We had nothing more to say now...”

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Apocalyptica:Cult (2001)


Apocalyptica是一支由四位大提琴手组成的芬兰乐队，刚开始听Apocalyptica时一定会对其中的金属伴奏产生一丝诧异——原先的金属味如今变得如此低沉而沙哑，而更令人瞠目结舌的是这并不是由吉他——而是由大提琴做出来的。然而用大提琴模仿金属的效果却丝毫没有影响金属乐本身或奔放豪爽或咄咄逼人或者焦虑不安的音效特质，同时虽然这种模仿一定程度上损伤了吉他金属本身紧凑，甚至密不透风的激烈紧迫感，但由于大提琴本身音色低沉，所模仿的金属声更为粗糙而支离破碎，为音乐增添了一层阴暗沉重无法自拔的情感色彩，有时甚至显得悲怆而趋于绝望。

Cult中歌曲以主音提琴和模仿金属伴奏的提琴构成主要声音元素，交相辉映有如金属乐中主唱和金属伴奏，而纯器乐间的合作同时又突出不同声音元素之间的亲和力，这种紧密感深刻表现在主音提琴和金属伴奏之间浑然一体的情感交流上，总的来说，金属伴奏能反衬烘托出主音提琴的一系列动作，而反面突出的同时还能为主音铺垫情节，渲染氛围，而主音提琴以低沉悠扬的古典韵味为音乐镀上一层宛如史诗般的宏伟壮丽的气势。

如在第二首“Struggle”中里沉缓低沉的主音提琴旋律缓慢上升，在凶猛刚烈却错落有秩的金属伴奏下显得无比悲怆却充满自信，沉重却步伐坚定，宛如在漆黑恐怖的山洞中摸索探寻同向光明的出口，不断能感受到黑暗的压迫，但心中无比的坚毅却始终贯穿着乐章，而其中金属伴奏随着背景音效同时逐步升级或迂回下降，再次证明了Apocalyptica对于用大提琴模仿金属乐的高超技巧。又如第三曲“Romance”中，以主音提琴的低咛式的独唱开篇，接着鼓和金属的合奏将乐篇推入高潮后，金属伴奏更显低沉而缓慢，提领突出宏伟磅礴的气势，有似万马奔腾的豪迈，而主音提琴高亢而婉转，在壮丽的背景下显得从容不迫，确实是对爱情千古不磨的赞誉。而第六首无疑是全张专辑中最为显赫的一曲，开篇便是低沉焦虑的金属伴奏，依然是那么压抑紧迫，锋芒逼露，有如黑暗来临，散发出阵阵绝望恐惧的阴暗气息，而主音提琴悠扬中尽显镇定自若，平缓中透出自信从容，随着声音的旋转上升渐渐盖过阴暗的金属声，在临界点再次借助微微震颤的鼓声终于冲破黑暗的牢笼，阳光终于映入眼帘，所有的辛酸与快乐，汗水与泪水涌出那倍受压抑、伤痕累累的心灵，没有恐惧不再彷徨；欢畅——心随着奔放的主音旋律，尽情在空中自由翱翔；如释重负——所有的痛苦早已过去，光明现已到来；愉快流畅的旋律达到高潮后渐渐暗去直到结束，留下那达到彼岸后甜蜜的回味，以及对美好未来的深深憧憬——而所有冲破临界的愉悦兴奋，紧紧凝结成了“希望”，永远埋在了灵魂的深处，照耀着通向未来的路。

在Cult普通版的第一首“Path Vol.2”（Cult特别版也有收录，Disc2的第一首）中加入了Sandra Nasic的演唱，去除了主音提琴。这从器乐合作角度来说，主音提琴和金属伴奏的音色与女音之间差别相当大，无意间剥夺了两乐器之间若即若离的情感互通，虽然Sandra Nasic的声音很好地融入了音乐，有时甚至察觉不到她的声音，但效果确实没有“Path”的逼真而自然，同时也体现出Apocalyptica对于主音提琴和金属伴奏之间互相衬托互相融合的良好平衡感，同时在音乐中还增加了一些提琴音效和其他效果衬托各种情感氛围，有力地体现突出了两乐器所刻画的不同场景，比如“Struggle”开场中提琴尖叫般扭曲的声音烘托着极其不安紧张的情感，以及戏剧化的情节效果，为而后出现的猛烈沉重、势不可档的金属伴奏铺垫。

Cult特别版中不仅收录普通版中的所有14首单曲，还在第二张碟中加了四首录制于2000年慕尼黑现场的录音，这四首录音证明了Apocalyptica不仅拥有超凡的技巧，更拥有出色的现场表演能力，演出中不但有安详而富有田园意境，被Eicca Toppinen誉为“something beautiful”的“Harmageddon”，更有能调动全场观众情绪的“Nothing Else Matters”，让在场的每一个人都手舞足蹈，同时也使得每一位听众能够融入现场狂热的气氛中。总得来说，Cult以及Cult的特别版整张专辑凭借着Apocalyptica一流的演奏技巧和歌曲创作，使得每首歌都十分切题，而从“Path”到“Coma”连接成一个远古顶礼膜拜的整体故事主题，就象专辑封面上那架骷髅，显出一种狂热和执着去面对周遭环境的安宁自信，也为生活在这个浮躁的城市里的人们带来了深深的思考。专辑本身回归了Apocalyptica古典乐的风格，而其中提琴对于金属乐的模仿打破了声音与乐器之间的界限，更为新古典金属写下了一个全新的篇章，可以说对于Apocalyptica以及古典金属乐界，这都是一张不可多得的优秀作品。

原作 摇滚年 disding