APOCALYPTICA Releases Cover Of MAURICE RAVEL's 'Bolero'

After the arrival of their feature track "I'll Get Through It", Finnish cello rockers APOCALYPTICA have announced the first of three classical instrumental tracks to be released throughout this summer. "Bolero" is APOCALYPTICA's own version of Maurice Ravel's classic ballet piece and it therefore marks the band's first reinterpretation of a classical song since "Hall Of The Mountain King" in 2000. Watch the music video below.

APOCALYPTICA will tour the U.S. extensively in 2022 and play multiple summer festivals, among other dates, before hitting Europe with the aptly named "Epic Apocalypse Tour" alongside EPICA and WHEEL.

Two months ago, APOCALYPTICA's Eicca Toppinen spoke to Mexico's Summa Inferno about his band's plans for a follow-up to 2020's "Cell-0" LP. He said: "We have started to talk about the next possible album. But in the meanwhile, we've been recording individual songs so we could release something constantly. So now we have already [planned out the] three next releases after [the recent single] 'I'll Get Through It'. We're gonna have something for the later [part] of the year as well; we're gonna have something for the winter. So we are working on different fields — on the instrumental field, on some special fields and then also on the vocal field.

"I would guess we'll start to write for the new album," he continued. "We've been starting to talk about what it could be, what would be exciting to do for us, but [those discussions have] not [gone] very far yet. Because the mindset is now we're doing the 'Cell-0' tour. And it's not that easy at the same time to get very high inspiration and motivation to write a new album, because writing a new album and recording it is a huge process; it takes a lot of time [and] a lot of energy. So, now we have so much touring that it's not possible to do it now. But I think we [will be] starting on it [soon]."

Released in March, "I'll Get Through It" was written for APOCALYPTICA by American award-winning songwriter Diane Warren. It features Franky Perez — guest vocalist in APOCALYPTICA's 2015 record "Shadowmaker" — as well as Geezer Butler of BLACK SABBATH on bass guitar.

The song was born out of a visit Geezer and Franky paid to their friend Diane, who had already written the track "Not Strong Enough" for APOCALYPTICA, included in their 2010 record "7th Symphony".

"Franky and I were visiting my friend, Diane Warren, at her studio," commented Geezer. "She played us this song, saying that she thought it would work well with Franky's voice. He gave it a try on the spot. We loved it. Franky then suggested sending it to APOCALYPTICA. They loved it, and the rest is history."

Perez shared the same feeling of enthusiasm upon hearing the track for the first time. "I knew this song was special from the moment Diane Warren played it for Geezer and me," he said. "So much so, that I framed the lyrics from the session the very next day. They have been hanging on my wall ever since. This song speaks to me lyrically which made for an honest performance. Musically, there is no better collaboration than Geezer and APOCALYPTICA to do the song the justice it deserves. I feel very fortunate to be a part of it."

"I'll Get Through It" marked the first collaboration between APOCALYPTICA and Perez since he sang on "Shadowmaker", which adds to the excitement for the members of APOCALYPTICA, according to Perttu Kivilaakso. "We are more than thrilled working with our great and talented friend Franky Perez again!" he said. "It's been a while since our previous collaborations in 'Shadowmaker' album and tour."

Perttu also added about the song: "'I'll Get Through It' is a meaningful and beautiful song by an incredible songwriter Diane Warren, with whom we've also had the pleasure of working with before. We can't wait for you to hear the final result… falling in love again with Franky's sensual performance, Geezer's earthshakingly powerful bass, and our wistfully haunting cellos, among the inevitable presence of all the rhythms and groove!"

2015's "Shadowmaker" was APOCALYPTICA's first album to feature just one singer — Perez — instead of guest collaborators. The disc was recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON).

Prior to enlisting Perez, who accompanied APOCALYPTICA on the band's 2022 North American tour, the group released eight albums that melded the classically trained cello mastery of the three core bandmembers with the harder elements of the rock world, including drums and guest vocalists, such as Gavin Rossdale from BUSH, and Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR fame.

APOCALYPTICA's "The Cell-0 Tour" of North America was set to begin in May 2020 before being moved back to early 2021 and to late summer 2021 and then finally to April/May 2022.

In April 2021, APOCALYPTICA released the official music video for its collaboration with PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix on a cover version of the CREAM classic "White Room". The track was produced by Howard Benson at West Valley Recording Studios in Woodland Hills, California and mixed by Chris Lorde-Alge.

"White Room" was the first release from APOCALYPTICA since "Talk To Me", which arrived in August 2020. That song was a collaboration with HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale.

"Cell-0" came out in January 2020. The effort was the band's first fully instrumental record in 17 years.

Back in 2018, Toppinen stated about APOCALYPTICA's decision to make an all-instrumental album at this point in the group's career: "On the previous ones, we always combined the instrumental songs with the vocal songs, and it was great to have the featuring artists, it was great to work with Frank Perez for the 'Shadowmaker' album. But then, on the other hand, it became a bigger interest for us, like, okay, it would be interesting to make a full instrumental album, so there's no compromise with anything."