Apocalyptica

Finland's Apocalyptica were widely viewed as a one-off novelty act when their debut, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, first hit stores in 1996, but the joke was apparently on us, given the group's subsequent longevity, and no small success amongst the hard rock cognoscenti. 2007 marks the release of the quartet's second in-concert DVD, which was captured during the previous year's Life Burns tour and features 20 tracks enthusiastically performed for a few thousand German fans -- plus a clutch of extra goodies to be discussed later. Now, one might understandably assume that there can only be so much visual entertainment to be had from watching four dudes sitting on-stage with cellos in their arms (and a drummer in the background); but for anyone who's followed Apocalyptica's unique career from afar, it's simply another thing entirely to witness them sawing away at their unwieldy instruments with such flabbergasting technique. And even though their far from charismatic on-stage banter goes a long way to explaining why these guys stayed in music school while their friends were content to practice in their garages, the fact is the members of Apocalyptica look like metal heads, thrash like metal heads, sweat and, of course, head-bang like metal heads, while alternating original and covered material throughout this nearly two-hour set. Many of those originals are actually quite impressive, too ("Path," "Life Burns," and "Bittersweet," in particular), but it's inevitably those covers of Metallica classics like "Master of Puppets," "Creeping Death," and an incongruous but still wildly entertaining "Fight Fire with Fire" that define the band's broad-based appeal. By the time Apocalyptica reaches a cathartic crescendo via Sepultura's remarkable "Inquisition Symphony" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman," one isn't really sure whether the smoke on-stage is emanating from dry ice, or the quartet's flailing fingers on fretboards. And then there are the bonus materials, including an eight-minute mini-doc of Apocalyptica's first U.S. tour, a making of featurette for the "Repressed" video, and a seven-promo clip collection including guest appearances by Max Cavalera, Ville Valo, Nina Hagen, and others. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide