CoC : Apocalyptica - Inquisition Symphony : Review

Apocalyptica - _Inquisition Symphony_
(Polygram, 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)

Undoubtedly the most famous Finnish cello quartet ever to play versions of Metallica songs, Apocalyptica are back. Beneath the great skull-shaped cello on the front cover lies one of the most original albums I've ever heard, despite being made mostly of song covers. The three Apocalyptica original songs are perhaps the main novelty -- all very good, combining very metallic riffs with melodies ("Harmageddon" and "M.B." being the best). In the versions department, there's more than Metallica to be found. Faith No More's "From Out of Nowhere" sounds quite good (I don't know the original), Pantera's "Domination" is, rather expectably, somewhat annoying, while Sepultura's "Refuse/Resist" is surprising, to say the least. Now we get to the best ones, which, together with "Harmageddon" and "M.B.", stand out from the rest. The other Sepultura song covered happens to be "Inquisition Symphony", easily one of the best songs Sepultura ever wrote. Then there's Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Nothing Else Matters", both great. Finally, they just happened to pick my two favorite Metallica songs, "Fade to Black" and "One". Try to imagine sadder, doomier versions of both, with everything played just right by those cellos. Excellent. In fact, the playing is so good throughout the album that it sometimes gets nigh unbelievable that Apocalyptica only use their cellos -- every cover is remarkable. This really has to be heard to be believed, especially their version of "Fade to Black".

(article published 8/7/1998)

GIGS
2/21/2005	J Smit	Rammstein / Apocalyptica	This Is Beautiful, This Is Art