Who says you need to load up on guitars to be a heavy rock band? Apocalyptica is back, armed with their cellos, keyboard, and drums, to perfect their new album, Cell-O. After a four year hiatus, these classically trained musicians are in peak form, making songs to excite the senses and headbang the inner rock star out of anyone!

One unique feature about Cell-O is this is their first lyric-less album in seventeen years; but who needs words? The music speaks for itself! The genesis for Cell-0’s creation arrived as the members of Apocalyptica were busy revisiting their initial breakthrough turf on tour. During 2018’s 20th anniversary tour celebrating their genre-breaking debut album Apocalyptica Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, the importance and potential of their roots started to take on deeper proportions.

From their debut, they continued their journey, now with nine studio albums, one live album, and two compilation albums. Their last, Shadowmaker, was released in 2015; now after a five year hiatus, the men with strings are back!

“Ashes of the Modern World” is the lead single from the album, and captivates in its haunting, heavy tune. From there, we are given a treat with the fiddling of fast paced tempos, melancoly strings, heavy drum beats, and killer keyboard riffs. The second of the listing, the self-titled “Cell-O”, starts in a horror music-esque vibe and quickly picks up steam. Being a gamer, I was reminiscent of a boss battle theme – which, at just under 10 minutes, could fit in nicely! “Rise” is more chill, something for the background of a dinner date or just relaxing from a hard day work. And that’s just from the first three songs of nine on this fantastic album!

You’ll find yourself headbanging, dancing, and overall being entranced by the tracks! No single sounds the same; in fact, no song sounds the same in itself! With the shortest song just clocking under four minutes, you’d think there would be at some point a moment of boredom or repetition. Not the case with Cell-O; Apocalpytica manages to differ each song seamlessly, and the results are fantastic! 

While I don’t think the band has ever put out a bad album, Cell-O has raised the stakes for both contemporary string music and for Apocalyptica themselves. You can catch the band on tour in the winter (Europe) and the spring (North America.) Do not miss these shows, or this CD!

By I’m Music Magazine Contributing Writer Bridget Taylor