Music genres collide as Apocalyptica blends metal with classical

At first, it's a somewhat familiar rumble: the dense, overpowering surge of what sounds like heavy-metal riffage, a rolling thunder rattle and roar suggestive of armored vehicles crashing into immovable objects.

Close your eyes and you can practically see a group of longhairs hunkered over their six-strings, swinging their manes in unison.

Not so.

Three cellists + one drummer = Apocalyptica, four Finnish dudes who've shot some colorful new thread through the fabric of heavy rock 'n' roll.

"People still can't believe it when we say there's not a single note played by guitar on the new album," Apocalyptica cellist Eicca Toppinen says from the bowels of the Nokia Theatre in New York City, where the band recently kicked off its current U.S. tour. " 'No, it can't be true.' 'Yeah, yeah.' If you listen carefully, you can hear the difference."

Still, it takes a sharp ear to hear said differences on the opening cut of Apocalyptica's latest disc, "7th Symphony," which is, as its title alludes to, the band's seventh release.

The album opens with "At the Gates of Manala," an obsidian-dark, seven-minute instrumental peppered with blast beats and perpetually shifting rhythms.

This is one side of the band: complex, layered musical suites tailored for musos and metalheads alike.

The very next song, "End of Me," encapsulates another: With vocals by Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, it's a moody, hooky rocker with dive-bombing cello lines that could easily find its way onto mainstream radio.

This is the axis upon which Apocalyptica pivots: symphonic instrumental works paired with potential hit singles voiced by the likes of Shinedown's Brent Smith and Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley.

Now, there are obvious parallels between classical music and heavy metal: the power and grandiosity of the two, the epic scope of both, the emphasis on a high level of instrumental prowess and the elaborate arrangements inherent in each genre.

But for Toppinen, it goes deeper than that.

"I think all music has certain connections, because music is all about emotions, and I think that so many different music styles can give you the same kind of emotion," he says. "For example, I think that (Brit trip-hop forebear) Massive Attack is more metal and darker than many of the metal bands. The music is so intense, there's so much bubbling energy, that it can create the same feeling as some kind of dark ballads by metal bands. I think the connection is everywhere."

This connection seems obvious to Toppinen, a classically trained musician who performed for years in various symphony orchestras in Finland. Though Apocalyptica has had few peers since debuting in 1996 with an album of Metallica covers, he doesn't see his band's approach as being particularly novel.

"When we started Apocalyptica, we were surprised people got so excited about it, because for us, it was the most natural thing to do," he says. "We loved classical music, we loved metal music, we loved all kinds of rock music -- I liked Duran Duran, Billy Idol, Jimi Hendrix, Pantera, Slayer. It was a big surprise for us when people were like, 'Wow, this is so revolutionary.' We were like, 'No, we're just playing the music we like on the instruments that we can play.' "

Still, Apocalyptica has mined a new sound and has begun to reap the rewards of such here in the States after years of success abroad. They became the first Finnish band to ascend to the top of the Billboard rock charts with their hit "I Don't Care," which featured vocals from Three Days Grace singer Adam Gontier and was featured on the band's breakout 2008 disc, "Worlds Collide."

Along the way, they've become a gateway act of sorts, giving metalheads a taste of classical music and classical music fans a sampling of metal.

This is what happens when Megadeth meets Mozart.

"It's always a big mix of all types of people," Toppinen says of the makeup of the crowd at Apocalyptica gigs. "It's loads of classical people who would never go to a regular metal show. Sometimes, we have shows with people of three generations: kids, their parents and grandparents, everybody enjoying it equally. I love the fact that we can deliver something that's different for people."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.