Finnish Cellos to the Metal give new ring to anthems

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Finnish Cellos to the Metal give new ring to anthems

By Rod Yates

Paavo Lötjönen, co-founder of Finnish cello quartet Apocalyptica, believes the worlds of classical music and heavy metal aren’t that far removed.

"Shostakovich and Metallica are closer to each other than [you’d think]," he reasons, speaking from his holiday house on a remote archipelago in Finland. "Metallica have a lot of classical, baroque elements to their music."

Lötjönen: cello is a powerful instrument that fits perfectly for metal music.

Lötjönen: cello is a powerful instrument that fits perfectly for metal music.

Lötjönen should know. Since co-founding Apocalyptica in 1993, he and his bandmates have become a regular on the metal touring and festival circuit, first gaining a reputation for their symphonic instrumental renditions of songs by Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera.

As their career has progressed, they’ve focused more on writing their own material, with fans such as Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Bush’s Gavin Rossdale adding guest vocals.

It all started with their debut album – 1996’s Plays Metallica By Four Cellos – on which the quartet performed instrumental versions of Metallica songs such as Enter Sandman and Creeping Death. Recorded for around $US2000 ($2855), the LP has since sold approximately two million copies worldwide.

"With cello, there is enough bass, so we can play all the bass parts, the accompanying parts, and the melody parts," offers Lötjönen. "If you think of four violins, there is not enough bass. Cello is a powerful instrument; it fits perfectly for metal music. And of course, we have modified our cellos – we have pick-ups and we are using distortion."

He laughs.

"Pan flute would sound [heavy] if you put enough distortion on it."

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The band has spent the past few years touring in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Plays Metallica By Four Cellos, a run that will bring them to Australia in September to perform in venues including the Sydney Opera House.

"There’s magic in playing these kinds of venues because it’s exciting for metal fans, but it’s not scary for classical people," offers Lötjönen. "If the show was at midnight in some dodgy rock club, 10-year-old kids and 60-year-olds would not come. But if the concert starts at eight in the Sydney Opera House, they are excited to see the show. There’s fantastic variation in the audience."

Who needs bass guitars to play heavy metal anthems?

Who needs bass guitars to play heavy metal anthems?

Lötjönen grew up around classical music – his father played violin in the Finnish National Opera – and he started learning cello at the age of six, going on to study music alongside his future bandmates at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy.

It was there they hatched the idea of indulging their other musical love – heavy metal – and set about creating cello arrangements of well-known metal songs and performing at parties and music camps.

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A representative from an independent label caught a show and offered them the opportunity to make an album, which became Plays Metallica By Four Cellos.

Remarkably, their "seventh or eighth real rock gig" was supporting Metallica in Helsinki in1996.

In 2011, Apocalyptica received another nod of approval from the American metal legends when they were invited to perform at Metallica’s 30th anniversary shows in San Francisco, during which frontman James Hetfield joined the cellists for a rendition of One.

"It felt unreal," says Lötjönen. "That was one of the highlights of our career."

Their show for the upcoming tour is divided into two halves. ''The first half we do Plays Metallica By Four Cellos, fully instrumental, but already from the first song, the audience will be standing together with us, singing the lyrics. Then there’s an intermission, people drink and get more courage [laughs], and then Mikko [Sirén] our drummer joins us, and it’s like a full metal show. By the end, everyone is standing up and shouting like we’re one big family."

Apocalyptica performs Plays Metallica By Four Cellos at Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, September 27; Hamer Hall, Melbourne, September 28; and the Sydney Opera House on September 29.

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