Apocalyptica is a band that attracts a lot of attention for its unique style. The Finnish quartet blends classical music and metal, creating powerful and completely unique songs.
Apocalyptica's last performance in the country was less than a year ago, at the first edition of Summer Breeze Brasil. With a short time between performances, the band returns for a series of five shows in Brazil , on January 16th in Porto Alegre (Teatro Bourbon Country), January 17th in Curitiba (Ópera de Arame), January 19th in São Paulo (Carioca Club), January 20th in Brasília (Toinha Brasil Show) and January 21st in Rio de Janeiro (Circo Voador).
In an exclusive interview with Wikimetal , Apocalyptica cellist Eicca Toppinen reminisced about his recent visits to Brazil, discussed the Finnish music industry, commented on the band's upcoming album, and more.
“At first we had no idea what we were doing,” the musician revealed. “We just tried to play metal, our favorite music, with the instruments we could play, which happened to be the cello.”
“No one was able to tell us how to do this. So we had to figure everything out on our own, which has been one of the best parts of this journey, which has been all about discovering something new and learning new skills and new perspectives.”
Wednesday series featured Apocalyptica's version of "Nothing Else Matters," originally by Metallica , on its soundtrack, and the musician recalled that "the whole Wednesday , which also had the cello approach, was quite Apocalyptica-esque, in a way, where she played heavier music with the cello. And I think that's cool, but I don't want to give any deeper meaning to things that are more 'one-offs'."
Regarding whether this is a good thing for the genre, he says: “I think it’s difficult to say what’s good for metal and what’s bad for metal. I think what’s good for metal is that things aren’t always so easy. So the attitude of metal comes from challenging yourself and really trying to create something that has a lot of emotion and feeling. And I don’t think metal should be too mainstream in that sense. Things would be too easy, which would lead to things becoming boring, because metal is the opposite of boring, I think.”
Finland is admittedly a major hub for the emergence of various metal bands, and Toppinen explains that he doesn't know what the industry is like today, but that "there were some record labels like Spinefarm that had their own philosophy when signing bands. So they signed as many bands as possible [but] not all of them needed to be successful, or they were successful with some people." For him, perhaps this is one of the reasons why there are so many bands in the country.
“But I think the metal world is a global community in a way that there’s something about metal that connects people, no matter where they come from. And so I say that it’s more of a global thing than a national one.”
Good news for Apocalyptica fans! The band's next album is already finished, and the cellist said it was completed the week this interview took place. "We were working on it all last year," and it's likely the record will be released in 2024.
When asked what fans could expect from this new work, Eicca Toppinen replied that it would be "something unexpected and very exciting," but did not reveal the name of any vocalist who will be part of the album.
Speaking about Brazil, the musician described the country as "exciting and fascinating": "It was interesting to see that in reality all the cities and areas are very different from each other in the country. So there is no generalization."
Finally, he sent a message to his Brazilian fans: “First of all, thank you for all the support and love you have given us over all these years, and we are very excited to return to play in your beautiful country and meet you, beautiful people, and share something very special in unforgettable moments. So, stay positive and let's share the fun together.”
