Apocalyptica: A Different Point Of View
“Rock and roll keeps you young. That can be your headline!” Paavo Lötjönen, one of APOCALYPTICA’s three cellists, is speaking to us the day after a historic show at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London. The room has hosted legendary rock bands and world-class orchestras in its 150-year-plus history, two separate worlds that APOCALYPTICA have made a career out of combining. “It was a privilege and an honour to play there”, he says.
But while the sense of occasion was not lost on him, Paavo had some reservations: “For rock music, it is challenging. It’s not easy to make a good sound in there because there’s a lot of echo. Yesterday worked pretty well.” After every show, the band self-assess – was it a good night or not?
Trained at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki along with his band mates Eicca Toppinen and Perttu Kivilaakso, he attributes this critical side to the Finnish trio’s classical background. That discipline is also what keeps his work meaningful: “If you don’t care how the show is and you’re just drinking beer, or your head is full of meaningless thoughts like good looking girls in the audience, then you lose motivation for playing and performing.”
The band are in the middle of a massive tour in support of Plays Metallica Vol. 2, their second record of reimagined METALLICA songs released almost 30 years on from the debut collection that kickstarted their career. Back then, Paavo says they were just a bunch of friends having fun, playing music they loved on a weird instrument. There were absolutely no expectations of success. Now, more than 2,000 shows later, they are selling out bigger rooms than ever before and METALLICA are making guest appearances on their albums.
“It’s a big honour for us that they took part,” Paavo says. “Rob [Trujillo] played bass on two tracks, James [Hetfield] narrates on a song. Rob’s son Tye plays the other bass tracks on the record.” The band had access to Cliff Burton’s original bass recordings too, which feature on their cover of The Call Of Ktulu.
Going back to where it all began felt like a time machine. “If you listen to the music you were listening to as a teenager, and you close your eyes, you can really feel your emotions from that time. The same thing happens to us when we listen to METALLICA. I feel young again, like I’m back in the late 80s. That’s the magic of rock and roll.”
Plays Metallica Vol. 2 is more than just a victory lap. Having built their own musical catalogue in the years since appearing on the scene in the mid 90s, the band bring their own virtuoso songwriting to this new collection of covers. That means having the confidence to play with the structure of METALLICA’s classics, and give some a new lease of life. St Anger has literally never sounded better.
“The key idea of this second volume is that each version we recorded needed to have a point,” Paavo says. “It should highlight the greatness of the original song and still sound like APOCALYPTICA. It should offer a different point of view.”
James Hetfield is revered for the power of his right hand, but imagine transferring the energy of the guitars in a METALLICA song to the cello. Paavo says it ain’t easy. “We are almost six weeks into the tour, playing six shows a week. It’s really hard for your fingers and hands. We need to have good physical health and practice a lot before a tour, otherwise we break our joints. In a way it’s like a professional athlete kind of job.”
He was laughing with the crew one morning on tour that despite his masters degree from a renowned university, he has never used it for anything – “Maybe I should hang it in my bathroom.” But he and the band have, over the years, played in orchestras and taught students. They dip into their classical training when they practice, performing Bach concertos for example, keeping them in good shape for the metallic riffs they play on their cellos.
Paavo still loves being on tour, despite the physical demands. “Live music means so many different kinds of things. It’s interactivity between people. It’s a joy of life. Listening to a record is not the same as playing for an audience and reaching for their hearts and souls. That’s something that takes me higher than everyday life. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small show or a big show, we try to reach people and give our best.”
And at the end of the night, how does he want his audience to feel? “Richer in real values. Not money values, the soulful values. The joy of music, of being together with other people.”
APOCALYPTICA have always taken everything one step at a time, no master plan. You get the feeling they never expected a collection of METALLICA songs rearranged for cello to translate into a career that shows no signs of slowing down almost three decades later. After Europe, it’s on to the USA and Canada to continue the tour into early next year, before festival season next summer.
In the music video for their cover of The Four Horseman, the band are backstage at a rock club, flicking through retro zines. Clad in denim, shades and leather, they’re young men again rocking out to the sounds of their youth. This reconnection with their younger selves might be why they’ve described 2024 as one of the most exciting periods in the band’s history.
For Paavo, it’s about being thankful and wondering what could still be on the horizon. “Tomorrow is always exciting,” he says. “You never know what will happen. And life is short. We should enjoy every day, every moment. It’s soon over.”
Plays Metallica Vol. 2 is out now via Throwdown Entertainment.
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