APOCALYPTICA Speaks To TOAZTED (Video)

Toazted recently conducted an interview with Eicca Toppinen and Paavo Lötjönen of the Finnish cello rock band APOCALYPTICA in Amsteram, The Netherlands. You can now watch the chat below.

For APOCALYPTICA's recently released live album "Wagner Reloaded - Live In Leipzig" (BMG),the band teamed with the acclaimed MDR Leipzig Symphony Orchestra. The album's release was perfectly timed since 2013 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of iconic German composer Richard Wagner.

"It's complex to record a live album with an orchestra, because there are so many lines, microphones and there's one stupid drummer, who beats the shit out of the drums and creates so much noise that everything is spoiled afterwards," laughs APOCALYPTICA's cellist Eicca Toppinen while nodding to drummer Mikko Sirén. "It's a challenge, we prepared well in advance, and Sven Helbig, the orchestrator, did a great job in making it run together, it works."

For "Wagner Reloaded - Live In Leipzig", APOCALYPTICA created new compositions based on Wagner's body of work and his life, teaming (with award-winning choreographer and dancer Gregor Seyffert to stage a brilliant and magical, cross-genre event featuring a live concert and theatrical production.

Since its inception, the Finnish cello-based heavy rock group APOCALYPTICA has been mining the classical form and structure creating compositions that are both unpredictable and unforgettable. From the METALLICA covers that turned the music scene on its ear to 2007's "Worlds Collide" — which saw the group collaborate (with everyone from SLIPKNOT's Corey Taylor to RAMMSTEIN's Till Lindemann and LACUNA COIL's Cristina Scabbia — APOCALYPTICA have released seven studio albums featuring numerous cello-based instrumentals and vocal-based songs. They've explored styles from atmospheric interludes to fast, battering rhythms — their music has always been gripping, dynamic and full of melody.