Band:	Apocalyptica
Album:	Cult
Style:	Symphonic heavy metal
Release date:	September 2000

Disc I
01. Path
02. Struggle
03. Romance
04. Pray
05. In Memoriam
06. Hyperventilation
07. Beyond Time
08. Hope
09. Kaamos
10. Coma
11. Hall Of The Mountain King [Edward Grieg cover]
12. Until It Sleeps [Metallica cover]
13. Fight Fire With Fire [Metallica cover]

Disc II [Special Edition]
01. Path Vol.2 [feat. Sandra Nasic]
02. Hope Vol.2 [feat. Matthias Sayer]
03. Nothing Else Matters [Metallica cover] [live]
04. Harmageddon [live]
05. Inquisition Symphony [Sepultura cover] [live]

After two albums that mostly contained covers from legendary metal bands such as Metallica, Sepultura, and Pantera among others, Apocalyptica managed to release this piece of work that features only three covers, while the rest of the album is originally written by them. Cult was also Apocalyptica's first album that included some instruments they never played before, like electric cellos, percussions, and guest vocals in the Special Edition of the album for the volumen 2 of Path and Hope. On the other hand, it was the last album performed by four cellos, as Max Lilja left the band some time after the release of Cult.

The performance is very original and amazing. As an innovative band, Apocalyptica tried to make something different by adding these elements and by writing their own music, and successfully obtained this masterpiece of the cello-performed music. The sound of this album varies from melodic to speed/thrash pieces. As they didn't use acoustic cellos anymore, the presence of electric stuff gave Apocalyptica a chance to play faster cello-shreds, and the use of some orchestra elements provided a more symphonic/neoclassical sound in some tracks. Another special feature is Coma, a live track recorded at the Hollola church. Obviously, Apocalyptica did not forget their traditional concept and added at the end of the album two more Metallica covers: Until It Sleeps and Fight Fire With Fire, both perfectly performed, with a sound completely different from the rest of Metallica covers, due to the new concept of Cult. The other cover is Hall Of The Mountain King, a classical song originally written by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

As a bonus, it is almost impossible to avoid talking about Path vol.2 and Hope vol.2, as both of these tracks were the first to include vocals in Apocalyptica's history. Sandra Nasic's vocals in Path are powerful and strong, while Matthias Sayer did a clean work with his throat in Hope. The lyric-writing of both tracks is not complex, but acceptable.

So this is Cult. Some people say this progression was better for the band, and there are some others that claim that Apocalyptica is worth-listening only by their covers of Metallica and other bands. The truth is that this album is only different from what Apocalyptica did before, a step forward in the band's career to "reinvent" the cello performance.