Apocalyptica

The founding members of Apocalyptica met while studying at the prestigious Sibelius Academy music school in Helsinki, Finland. ∙ The band first performed in 1993 at an orchestra summer camp party, where they played three Metallica songs using only cellos. ∙ Their first album, 1996’s Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, sold more 350,000 copies worldwide. ∙ Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo has guested on several Apocalyptica albums, including 2003’s Reflections. ∙ Their 2007 album, Worlds Collide, featured guest vocals by Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour), Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), Till Lindemann (Rammstein), and Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace). ∙ Apocalyptica became the first Finnish band to top a Billboard chart when “I Don’t Care” reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks survey in 2008. ∙ In 2011, Apocalyptica performed three songs with Metallica at the legendary metal band’s 30th-anniversary shows in San Francisco.