Live Review : Apocalyptica + The Raven Age @ Albert Hall, Manchester on September 29th 2024

Apocalyptica have spent over 25 years refusing to be typecast. Starting life as a classical style Metallica tribute act, their 1996 debut “Plays Metallica by Four Cellos” remains one of the most stunningly unique albums ever released. A further eight albums over a nearly 30-year career has seen them bring in a drummer and vocalist, write their own material and firmly break out of the mould of novelty cover act. All of which makes the decision to record a second Metallica cover album and tour it with a set list made up of exclusively Metallica covers both baffling and bold. 

Quite simply Apocalyptica don't need to do this, they have a fan base capable of filling 2,000 capacity rooms to hear their own material. It becomes clear this evening that they are doing this because they still (28 years later) get off on the challenge of reinterpreting for three cellos the vast back catalogue of their favourite band. Tonight is about four musicians indulging themselves by playing the songs that shaped them. The fact that people are paid to witness it is all but an added bonus.

If there were awards for tenacity, then The Raven Age would have a whole cabinet full. George Harris (note the surname) has been at this for over 15 years. If there is a support slot to fill they will fill it, and it is easier to list the bands that they haven't been out on the road with the ones they have. They should be applauded for their gritted determination and dogged inability to give up on their dreams. In their quest to move beyond being simply Steve Harris's son's band, they have tried numerous looks and numerous musical styles. Tonight Matthew, they have gone for a Black Veil Brides aesthetic coupled with a heavy dose of slick 80s AOR.

The material presented this evening is well-polished and immaculately produced. Whilst their blackened necks make them look more metalcore than metalcore, the music harks back to White Lion, Bad English and Mr. Big. By softening and broadening their sound they have given it an accessible sheen that is impossible not to tap your foot along to. They are still missing that killer tune to propel them over the barricades and into the big time, but the hall of cellphone lights mustered for ‘Essence of Time’ gives a distinct impression that it may well be a when rather than if they finally step out of the shadows. Returning guitarist Tommy Gentry is obviously doing most of the musical heavy lifting and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that it is his reappearance that has given them this additional impetus. With the support slot tied down for Maiden’s shows next summer this could be the moment that they finally throw off the shackles of nepotism.

‘Ecstasy of Gold’ has evolved well beyond being the soundtrack to the “The Good, The bad and The Ugly”. For generations of us metalheads, it is Metallica's opening music and as it pumps out here tonight there is a collective hair on the back of the neck moment. However, it is not Papa Het and Co. that emerge on stage, but Eicca, Perttu and Paavo hoisting their cellos aloft. They slam straight into ‘Ride the Lightning’ and the beauty of what they are doing is immediately obvious. Yes, there is familiarity because these songs are etched into the fabric of our world, but there is also a wonderful air of wanton experimentation because they sound so different. Different but also instantly recognisable. 

They lean into a sense of mass karaoke by chucking out ‘Enter Sandman’ as the second track. Even the most agnostic attendee who has been dragged along by their Metallica-loving significant other, knows the words and the breathtaking confines of the Albert Hall are filled with adulating voices screaming “Exit light enter night we are off to off to Never-Neverland”. follow this with ‘Creeping Death’ and from that moment onwards they have every soul in the building eating out their hands. 

In many ways, these are not covers. They are cornerstones of our musical lexicon that they are reappointing and re-rendering. Even the much-maligned ‘St. Anger’ is greeted with reverence and sounds, to be honest, much better in its neoclassical façade. Other bands play with orchestration and symphonic interludes but there are moments this evening where it feels like we've been transported into a different world. There are points during ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘One’ where we could be at a classical recital. Hush reverberates around the auditorium and the beauty of the sound being ushered forth by three cellos is nothing short of immaculately exquisite. But then there are also instances where these virtuoso musicians prove that their instruments of choice are as metal as fuck. ‘Battery’ and ‘Blackened’ are as brutal and ferocious in this form as they are in the hands of their originators.

The other astonishing thing about this evening is the absolute joy in the faces of the protagonists. Apocalyptica have established themselves as a bonafides marquee name metal band, but that doesn't stop them from being frenzied Metallica fans. The decision to record a second Metallica cover album comes across as a labour of love rather than a fiscal decision. They may even be more in the tank as Perttu’s comic bemoaning of not being able to play ‘Damage Inc’ is met by an invitation by Eicca to include it on volume 3. There is a genuiness at play here and you cannot help but be swept along by the enthusiasm and obvious joy of the musicians in front of you.

The final furlong is an absolute tour de force of muscular songwriting and astonishing musical virtuosity. ‘Master of Puppets’ folds into the aforementioned ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and then into ‘Seek and Destroy’ and a final crescendo of ‘One’. A song that is already a maelstrom of emotional turmoil, has its passion ratcheted up several more notches. The haunting baritone depth of the cello just adds a whole extra dimension of haunting texture to this absolute behemoth of a track. 

Novelties don't last four decades and the rapturous reception they are afforded shows that we are yet to become bored with this astonishing reimagining of metal's biggest band. As a parting shot, Eicca encourages those who attended purely for the covers to go and check out all their other stuff and from the murmuring as people leave the building you get the distinct impression that there will be a lot more people present when they return doing their own material.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Apocalyptica + The Raven Age