A highly unusual development even by the esoteric standards of Finland’s popular music industry, Apocalyptica was formed by four classically trained cellists from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki who wished to interpret heavy metal classics. Their 1996 debut album consisted entirely of Metallica songs - and was not, apparently, intended as a joke. Instead, the quartet attempted to recreate the urgency and bombast of such Metallica standards as ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Master Of Puppets’ by rearranging them for cello. The band, founded by Eicca Toppinen (b. 5 August 1975, Vantaa, Finland), Max Lilja (b. 1975, Finland), Antero Manninen (b. 19 January 1973, Tampere, Finland) and Paavo Lötjönen, were drawn together because of what Toppinen described as ‘our love of metal. We wanted to see how metal would work classically, and I especially wanted to try Metallica songs, as they’ve been a favourite of mine for more than 10 years.’
The band was founded in 1993, playing a number of acoustic shows before graduating to an amplified show at a Helsinki hard rock club in December 1995. The idea to record their set was the result of an approach by audience member Kari Hynninen, later the band’s manager, who took them to his Mercury Records subsidiary label, Zen Garden. After the album’s release, Apocalyptica achieved another of their dreams when they became support band to Metallica’s two shows in Helsinki in November 1996. The quartet’s 1998 follow-up, Inquisition Symphony, featured cover versions of material by Metallica, Sepultura, Faith No More and Pantera alongside three Toppinen originals.
Toppinen assumed the bulk of the writing duties on Apocalyptica’s third release, Cult (2000). Perttu Kivilaakso (b. 11 May 1978, Helsinki, Finland) replaced the departing Manninen on this album. Lilja left in 2002 leaving the remaining members to complete Reflections (2003) as a trio, with Slayer’s Dave Lombardo (b. 16 February 1965, Havana, Cuba) playing drums on several tracks. Mikko Sirén (b. 31 December 1975, Finland) was recruited as their touring drummer and was installed as a full-time member on Apolcalyptica’s self-titled fifth album, released in 2005. Although their albums were continuing to sell in substantial numbers, to their credit Apocalyptica refused to stick to the tried and tested format of their earlier work, with both Apocalyptica and Worlds Collide (2007) introducing a harder rocking, experimental edge to the band’s sound. In 2008, the band pulled off a coup of sorts, collecting massive radio play and topping both the modern and mainstream rock charts with "I Don't Care."
