Apocalyptica was a cool concept to begin with: four classical cellists playing arrangements of Metallica songs.
But that was their first EP, and that was a long time ago.
Now they play instrumental hard rock and bring in guest vocalists, and the returns have diminished.
"End of Me" features former Bush vocalist Gavin Rossdale.
Brent Smith of Shinedown shows up for "Not Strong Enough," a power ballad that sounds like a performance from a televised country music awards show.
When the cellos are fed through pedals, the sound can be quite impressive, like a guitar, but five times more room-filling and powerful.
And the members of Apocalyptica do use many different effects on their instruments, occasionally creating sounds not unlike those you might hear on a Sunn 0))) album.
The best track on 7th Symphony is "2010," which features a guest performance by Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, who drives the music ferociously, like a speeding train straight into hell.
But too often, using cellos to play metal riffs (as on "Bring Them to Light," which features vocalist Joseph Duplantier of French avant-metallers Gojira) just winds up making the album sound like "A String Tribute to [Insert Metal Band Here]," and not in the cool, rethinking-the-material way that earlier Apocalyptica releases did.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | At the Gates of ManalaPerttu Kivilaakso, Paavo Lotjonen, Mikko Siren, Eicca Toppinen | Apocalyptica | Play | 07:03 | 16 MB | 47 MB |
| 2 | End of MeJohnny Andrews, Gavin Rossdale, Eicca Toppinen | Apocalyptica | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Not Strong EnoughDiane Warren | Apocalyptica | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | 2010Perttu Kivilaakso, Dave Lombardo, Paavo Lotjonen, Mikko Siren | Apocalyptica | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | BeautifulPerttu Kivilaakso | Apocalyptica | Play | 02:18 | 5 MB | 11 MB |
| 6 | Broken PiecesFiora Cutler, Guy Sigsworth, Eicca Toppinen | Apocalyptica | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 7 | On the Rooftop With QuasimodoMikko Siren | Apocalyptica | Play | 04:59 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 8 | Bring Them To LightJoseph Duplantier, Mikko Siren, Eicca Toppinen | Apocalyptica | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 9 | SacraMikko Siren, Eicca Toppinen | Apocalyptica | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| 10 | Rage of PoseidonPerttu Kivilaakso, Paavo Lotjonen, Mikko Siren, Eicca Toppinen | Apocalyptica | Play | 08:41 | 19 MB | 54 MB |
| 47 mins | 109 MB | |||||
| 47 mins | 313 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Andrews | Composer, Vocals |
| 2 | Apocalyptica | Arranger, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 3 | Keith Armstrong | Assistant Engineer |
| 4 | Joe Barresi | Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Vocals |
| 5 | Howard Benson | Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 6 | Paul Bushnell | Bass |
| 7 | Fiora Cutler | Composer |
| 8 | Paul DeCarli | Digital Editing |
| 9 | Joseph Duplantier | Composer, Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 10 | Mike Fasano | Drum Technician |
| 11 | Brian Gardner | Mastering |
| 12 | Jason Gossman | Mixing Assistant |
| 13 | Mikko Harma | Photography |
| 14 | Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki | Engineer |
| 15 | Nik Karpen | Assistant Engineer |
| 16 | Perttu Kivilaakso | Composer |
| 17 | Mirella Koullias | Model |
| 18 | Matias Kupiainen | Drum Engineering |
| 19 | Nino Laurenne | Recording Assistant |
| 20 | Dave Lombardo | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 21 | Chris Lord-Alge | Mixing |
| 22 | Paavo Lotjonen | Composer |
| 23 | Lacey Mosley | Featured Artist |
| 24 | Jun Murakawa | Tracking Assistant |
| 25 | Jon Nicholson | Drum Technician |
| 26 | Sean Oakley | Mixing Assistant |
| 27 | Mike Plotnikoff | Engineer |
| 28 | Gavin Rossdale | Composer, Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 29 | Büro Dirk Rudolph | Art Direction, Design |
| 30 | Andrew Schubert | Engineer |
| 31 | Guy Sigsworth | Composer |
| 32 | Mikko Siren | Composer |
| 33 | Brent Smith | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 34 | Ralf Strathmann | Photography |
| 35 | Morgan Stratton | Mixing Assistant |
| 36 | Lacey Sturm | Vocals |
| 37 | Eicca Toppinen | Composer |
| 38 | Brad Townsend | Engineer |
| 39 | Ossi Tuomela | Recording Assistant, Vocals |
| 40 | Diane Warren | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |