apocalyptica live

This damp, dark November night proved to the third and most entertaining time that I’ve seen Apocalyptica, but before I break down their gig, just a word or several about Pain of Salvation, their able, competent and very progressive support act.

Sweden’s Pain of Salvation, on their first visit to Scotland, started off a bit sharply, as most people were still filtering into the venue while they were playing their fingers off. This made the atmosphere a bit flat for them to start with, but as more people came in, they got louder and more relaxed. They’re not novices on the metal scene, and they played some cracking, progressive rock. At one point Daniel Gildendöw stated ‘If you find someone else who sounds like us, tell us and we’ll stop playing. The world doesn’t need two bands that sound the same’. In terms of style, they are a bit similar to Leprous, but I would say that Leprous are influenced by Pain of Salvatiion, rather than the other way round. Using a mix of atmospheric soundscapes and spoken narrative, they entertained the growing crowd for a full forty five minutes. Definitely one to check out at the earliest opportunity.

Apocalyptica were the whole point of the evening. This is the third time I’ve seen them, and on both previous occasions, after about half an hour or so, I got bored with screeching cellos, no matter how well played they are, no matter how well arranged the tracks are, no matter how much distortion and effects they use, no matter the stagecraft the Apocalyptica boys exhibit. The problem is, there is only so much that can be done with (usually) four cellos when the piece being played is a Metallica cover, or another metal tune of the bands own composition.

This time, I’m pleased to report that they have changed the set around a bit. Only three cellos (apart from one tune), where there’s normally four, a vocalist, live on stage and a gorgeous musical break in the middle. This made the gig a much more interesting and enjoyable experience.
Anyway, they started off with some classic Apocalyptica, then three tunes in they did the Metallica cover that everyone was waiting for, a medley of songs from their ancient past, presumably to get it out of the way so they could get on with more recent music. After twenty five minutes, in came the guest vocalist for a couple of tracks. He went off and there was some more classic stuff, and then there was a musical interlude where the drummer came and sat with the rest of the band and played the bass line on a cello for one tune, and then played a big drum for the rest. This section of the performance was quite beautiful to listen to, and almost persuaded me to buy the album they’re promoting, 7th Symphony. Then there were a couple more typical tunes, then the singer came back on to do Bring Them to Light. This is a radical departure from the norm, incorporating much rougher, faster thrash metal overtones, and, for me, didn’t really work well. More normal Apocalyptica cello metal followed, then the encore, closing off with I’m Not Jesus, featuring the vocalist again.

With this show, and probably 7th Symphony, Apocalyptica have finally thrown off the ill deserved tag of novelty band that they earned in the early days, and started shedding with Worlds Collide. They have matured as a band, and now have the confidence to allow other artists to front their stage while they control the music.

by Alan Thomson