Apocalyptica is one of the biggest symphonic metal bands in the world. For 30 years, the Finnish band has masterfully balanced two seemingly antagonistic approaches, blending heavy metal with classical music harmonies, a characteristic explored in its purest form on their recently released EP , Metal Classic, Classic Metal , from October.
In this project, Apocalyptica performs their own versions of three historic classical pieces, blending heaviness and delicacy in the compositions "Flight of the Bumblebee" (originally by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov), Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and "Bolero" (by Maurice Ravel).
In an interview with Wikimetal , drummer Mikko Sirén spoke about the challenges of maintaining such important songs with the same personality while still creating something relevant, his collaboration with Geezer Butler , the band's impossible dream collaboration, future plans, and confirmed that Apocalyptica will come to Brazil in 2023.
Recently, journalist José Norberto Flesch Summer Breeze Festival lineup , which will take place at the Memorial da América Latina (São Paulo) on April 29th and 30th, 2023. The dates for the Brazilian event are also close to the recently announced show in Lima, Peru, for April 25th of next year, confirming plans for a Latin American tour next year.
WM: How did you decide which songs would be on the EP Metal Classic, Classic Metal?
MS: Actually, the project started a long time ago, and one of the things that took so long was the difficulty in finding songs that we felt we could make some interesting versions of. I think we started with about 25 songs and then narrowed it down to 12, something like that. And these three that we've released now were the first ones that we made proper arrangements for. As I said, the list is still quite long; I think we'll release a few more classic songs.
WM: And what's the biggest challenge in making these versions of Apocalyptica?
MS: The biggest challenge is avoiding the obvious. I think that's one of the biggest fears. I don't know if this makes sense, but we don't want to do the most obvious thing in the arrangements or in the music in general to the point of becoming kind of silly. Yes, but it's very important for us to feel that we're doing something that really excites us. It's in our nature, the four of us, to be original, exploratory, and always trying to find new and interesting approaches. So it's crucial for us that we stay excited about what we do.
WM: In recent years, you've released collaborations with incredible artists. Is there anyone on the band's wish list for a collaboration?
MS: I think there are so many on that list. Some people have already passed away, like Leonard Cohen . For me, he was one of the greatest poets of all time, with such a unique voice… But he’s no longer with us. But the list is long, with some people more likely than others, but we’re lucky to still be able to collaborate with artists who inspire us. And at the best times, we work with people who are our idols or people we truly admire. The great example is the last sung single we recorded and released with Franky Perez and Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath . I think for anyone who has ever listened to rock, Geezer is one of those iconic names. And being able to play with him is, of course, a kind of career milestone.
WM: And what was it like playing live with Geezer Butler?
MS: It was very special. I hadn't met him personally before; he's a great combination of a British gentleman and a true punk. I think it's a very good combination; I'm a big fan of British rock in general, and to be there while he plays and understand that that's the real sound, that there are no tricks or miraculous buttons behind it, it's just him playing the bass and that's the sound. As a musician, those moments are always very important and stand out as something to remember. As a person, he's very kind and sweet and has great stories. And as an artist, he's as valid as ever, a very good musician.
WM: Speaking of Black Sabbath, we'd like to know your opinion on the future of metal. Recently, 57% of our readers voted that metal will be a genre listened to by few people , just like classical music is currently. Do you agree?
MS: I think this transformation started about eight or ten years ago… When we put things into a slightly broader perspective, this happens with all musical genres, especially the more daring ones. If you think about 30 or 40 years ago, mainstream music was jazz, and it was dance and entertainment music of the time, with the most fashionable people playing with this music – and that lasted for a long time. And then, eventually, it disappeared. It wasn't mainstream anymore. It never died. It never disappeared, yes, but it wasn't mainstream anymore.
So, in that movement, rock was sidelined by disco music. Then, they started to hate disco, which faded from the spotlight. None of those musical styles disappeared. Especially when the music is more daring, in this case, if you think like me, at least, since I understand that heavy metal should be super daring, break barriers and all the rules, be the biggest rebel. What happened when metal started to become more popular? It starts fighting against itself, thinking, 'Our popularity is so great that we need to fight to stay here,' and to remain popular you start to smooth the edges, to fit into a formula.
What happened to the music that was supposed to break all barriers? It became one of the most conservative and restrictive genres: you can't do this, you can't do that, this has to be done, that can't happen. When before it was "fuck everything," there are no rules, and we do what we want. So musically, I think it's amazing that metal isn't as popular as it was ten years ago, because the musical content started to become boring.
When we look at rock and metal shows today, there are still a huge number of people going to rock and metal shows. And I think that's perhaps where the vitality lies; metal is still about live performance, that's where the energy is most raw, in its most brutal form, and that's what people want to seek out, even the younger generation.
There's something I always say, and I feel like musicians and metal fans get a little hurt when I say it, but hip hop, dance, and electronic music are dominating everything, and I think that's fantastic. It shows that music is moving forward as always, and that's fine. There shouldn't be a musical style that stays on top forever; that's never happened. And what we should do, as all musicians have done in the past, is embrace the new path, embrace new things, and try to learn from them, from the young people and their musicality.
WM: Yes, absolutely. And as a fan, I don't see any problem with seeing shows in smaller venues, as long as we have fun.
MS: Exactly. And there are still bands like Iron Maiden and AC/DC that fill stadiums, which is great too. But [stadiums] aren't the only places to listen to music.
WM: And going back to Apocalyptica, you're exploring both instrumental music and tracks with vocals in your latest releases. What can we expect from the band's next steps?
MS: Right now, I'm at our rehearsal space and I'm making plans for the next single that we should release later this year. That's definitely something that's coming soon, but we're working on many different fields at the same time. We're planning to do more vocal tracks and we're also creating instrumental tracks as well. There's a lot ahead.
There aren't many good things to say about the pandemic, but we've found a lot more creativity as a band, so that's a good thing. We're working very hard all the time.
WM: It's been seven years since Apocalyptica's last show in Brazil, do you have any plans to come here?
MS: Yes, we're going back to Latin America. I don't have the dates here, but it will be next year, in the first half of the year. We have at least one – maybe even two – tours in Latin America, and that's one of the great pieces of news we're excited about. I didn't remember it had been so long since we were there, it's ridiculous. Of course, there was that damn COVID that ruined everything, but we're going! I can't say cities or dates, but we're going and we're very excited.
Overall, South America is one of our favorite continents to tour on simply because of the people. Of course, each country is very different, but there are also similarities in the passion people feel for music and for life in general. It's mind-blowing. It's super inspiring to be there.
WM: Yes, we're always very proud when bands praise the Latin American audience because we're truly passionate about music, so it's great to see the bands enjoying it too.
MS: Yes, that's obvious, it really becomes evident. And I haven't yet met a musician who wouldn't want to play around there. And, of course, when you get to the point of hearing some local music – I'm a fan of bossa nova and I like samba and salva, for example – it's fabulous.
Listen to the EP Metal Classic, Classic Metal , by Apocalyptica on Spotify and then “Flight of the Bumblebee”.
