Apocalyptica

Eponymous efforts either represent the beginning of a career, the end of an era or a significant reorientation. The latter option is Apocalyptica's case.

The Finnish trio had collaborated with different singers for special editions of different albums and alternative versions of singles before but this eponymous album was the band's first record to feature regular tracks with different vocalists. Some fans of the band's early years were quite displeased but this change proved to be commercially successful as this album can be considered the band's breakthrough record on the old continent.

The album even dares opening with the straight-forward ''Life Burns!'', featuring vocals by The Rasmus' singer Lauri Ylönen. To give you some context, The Rasmus had just had its commercial breakthrough and had conquered the charts all around Europe with its gloomy alternative rock style that equally appealed to younger gothics and younger metal fans. Their records were the kind of music that would be played at a party and appeal to all types of pop and rock music fans. Still, The Rasmus was everything but an ordinary band and especially the vocalist has a quite unique timbre that doesn't compare to anyone I had ever heard before or have ever heard after. Personally, I adore this record's courageous opener with dynamic cello sounds, emotional vocals and fast drum passages. It opens the record with a bang and leaves a profound impression.

This isn't Lauri Ylönen's last appearance on this output. He performs vocals with HIM's Ville Valo on melancholic gothic ballad ''Bittersweet''. HIM was another highly successful Finnish band at the time and its charismatic chain-smoking singer was particularly popular among young female gothics. Traditionalists might have been shocked by his appearance on this record but the truth is that his incredible low register harmonizes perfectly with Lauri Ylönen's higher timbre. ''Bittersweet'' is a gothic ballad of the grandest kind, a timeless classic oozing with atmosphere that has stood the test of time.

The record's final track includes a hidden track or alternatively a bonus track with vocals by either German-Czech alternative rock band Die Happy's singer Marta Jandova or French alternative rock band Dolly's singer and guitarist Emmanuelle Monet. This hidden track is in fact an alternative version of instrumental song ''Quutamo'' featuring English, German or French lyrics. The melodic vocals blend in surprisingly well and give the song an eerie vibe. It's noteworthy that the lyrics aren't simple translations as especially the French version has quite a different meaning than the other two songs.

As if that weren't enough, this album is only the second to feature drums and they sound particularly energetic here. Again, old-fashioned elitists saw this as a loss of identity while new audiences appreciated the additional drive. ''Fisheye'' for instance can almost be called a thrash metal track with complex drum patterns, incredibly fast cello parts and yet the band's typically melancholic melodies. ''Betrayal / Forgiveness'' features Slayer's drummer Dave Lombardo and could be described as best Slayer song from the new millennium that wasn't even written and performed by Slayer. Both tracks are among the heaviest songs Apocalyptica have ever written.

This leads to another point. Another element that makes this release special is that it's by far the band's most aggressive output. The sounds made by the three cellos are often more brutal than what many traditional metal bands manage to unleash with guitars and similar instruments. This just shows how versatile classical instruments can sound. ''Fatal Error'' for instance sounds quite stressful and evokes an unbearably apocalyptic atmosphere in only three consistent minutes.

Fans of the band's previous records should not be afraid though. Apocalyptica still features a few songs that slow down and focus on elegant melodies like melancholic ''Ruska'' and the elegiac closer ''Deathzone''.

Until today, Apocalyptica's eponymous record remains my favourite release of the Finnish trio. The album is very atmospheric and features numerous soundscape from aggression over melancholy to mystery. The three tracks with vocals blend in perfectly and only enhance this album's overall angry and gloomy soundscapes. This commercially successful release was an introduction to both classical music and heavy metal for many young listeners one and a half decades ago and deserves more credit than it gets. Classical music and heavy metal have rarely harmonized so well as on this output. This record has aged perfectly and its impact and legacy are unquestionable.

The first thing you'll probably think upon listening to this album is "what the **** were they thinking?"

For the first time, Apocalyptica have chosen to include a vocalist on a couple of songs on their album rather than wisely limiting them to singles and bonus material for special editions as they have previously. Not only will this upset a few of their fans, but for some obscure reason they thought it was clever to employ The Rasmus' whiney singer. Oh dear. Life Burns would be a semi-decent track without him, but no, they had to open with this travesty...

Lauri also features in fourth track Bittersweet, a ballad which isn't a bad piece of music, but is far better when performed live without either him or HIM's singer (yes, HIM...)

Between these two vocal tracks lie two fairly average Apocalyptica pieces. Along with Misconstruction, they sound pretty much like average tracks from Reflections. Not bad, but not great either.

This album certainly shouldn't be dismissed though, because what's to come is the band at their best.

The bizarrely named Fisheye is the first hint of what's to come, a faster, heavier song with an interesting structure and a damn catchy central riff.

It's followed by Farewell, possibly Apocalyptica's best ballad yet. It sounds quite classical for the most part and has a beautiful melancholy chorus, but is underpinned by a low chugging riff emanating a distant sense of menace.

Fatal Error is faster and heavier than Fisheye. For the first time since Cult, Apocalyptica seem to be attempting to write thrash metal again, rather than just fairly average sounding heavy metal that happens to be on cellos. If that's their aim, they succeed magnificently with Betrayal/Forgiveness

Betrayal/Forgiveness is not merely probably the best track on the album, nor even merely one of Apocalyptica's finest monents. It's an astounding piece of thrash, all the more incredible for the lack of involvement any kind of an electric guitar, bass, or anything. The introduction lures you into the song and slowly builds up to the most ridiculously fast fast cello playing, which continues as the song continues to build up into the most amazingly heavy piece of...thrash metal? death metal? It's hard to say. One cello chugs away somewhere close to the speed of sound whilst another plays cleanly over the top, and somewhere underneath it all there's the deep scraping sound of the third cello being tortured. Oh, and Dave Lombardo plays the drums, which should give a decent impression of the speed this thing is going at on at least one level...somehow there's about two different tempos going in the song, a faster one and a slower one, yet it works. The verse-chorus-verse structure is totally abandoned in favour of wildly twisting and turning instrumentalism. Towards the end a clean cello slips smoothly out of the chaos and the song is brought to a soft conclusion.

The last two songs on the album are, surprisingly, pretty soft too, but none the worse for it, and hardly the kind of ballad featured earlier on the album. The reflective cellos of Ruska are underpinned by a skeletal piano riff, and Deathzone is dark and saddening.

Overall, something weird happened to the first part of this album, but buy it for the second part. Unless you're a fan of cello covers (in which case the band's first two albums will appeal) get this one after the masterpiece that is Cult.