Apocalyptica - Reflections review
| Band: | Apocalyptica |
| Album: | Reflections |
| Style: | Symphonic heavy metal |
| Release date: | February 10, 2003 |
| A review by: | Dream Taster |
Disc I [CD]
01. Prologue (Apprehension)
02. No Education
03. Far Away
04. Somewhere Around Nothing
05. Drive
06. Čohkka
07. Conclusion
08. Resurrection
09. Heat
10. Cortége
11. Pandemonium
12. Leave Me Alone [vinyl edition bonus]
13. Delution [vinyl edition bonus]
14. Toreador II
15. Epilogue (Relief)
16. Seemann [Rammstein cover] [feat. Nina Hagen] [reissue bonus]
17. Faraway Vol. 2 [extended version] [reissue bonus]
18. Delusion [reissue bonus]
19. Perdition [reissue bonus]
20. Leave Me Alone [reissue bonus]
Disc II [DVD]
01. Faraway [Live 2003]
02. Enter Sandman [Metallica cover] [Live 2003]
03. Inquisition Symphony [Live 2003]
04. Nothing Else Matters [Metallica cover] [Live 2003]
05. Somewhere Around Nothing [Live 2003]
06. Somewhere Around Nothing [promo video]
07. Faraway Vol. 2 [promo video]
08. Seemann [promo video]
09. Faraway Vol. 2 [electronic press kit]
10. Reflections [electronic press kit]
11. Seemann [electronic press kit]
The trio of Finnish cellists known as Apocalyptica reached fame by covering Metallica finest songs. Then, 2000's Cult surfaced and things were different. The world recognized the talent showcased by those guys. In 2003, yet another huge leap to success was made with Reflections.
This album is definitely more aggressive than its predecessor, notably with the addition of former Slayer drummer, Dave Lombardo, on some tracks. The rhythmic section got a huge boost with a more prominent drumming style layering more violent cello riffs.
To an untrained hear, this album is first difficult to get into. It sounds like too much is going on at the same time even though there are no vocals. But it takes a few spins to fully enjoy this masterpiece.
Aggressive pieces and relaxing ballads alternate throughout the entire album, but the quality does not lessen one single time. A track like 'Heat' was destined to become a hit, even though Lombardo is not providing power on this one. Sami Kuoppamäki is doing the job just fine on this one.
Even though the drumming adds a lot to Reflections, the driving force of the record once again comes from these pure sounding melodies, performed with spirit by our trio of cellists. The album achieves its purest moment on the closing track 'Epilogue'.
Obviously different from mainstream music, featuring no vocals and no guitars; Reflections is a remarkable experiment. Despite the fact that it is quite difficult to get into at first, this album is bound to grab you and to never let you go. It is to this day regarded as Apocalyptica finest record, and I second this opinion.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 9 |
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Written on 20.12.2006 by
Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as: "A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?" I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math. |
Comments
| Paradox0 Unasuming Madnes Posts: 592 |
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| velvet Posts: 62  |
The highlight has to be their cover of Seemann feat. Nina Hagen. Different enough from the original to be interesting, superb arrangement and an ideal choice for vocals.
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| +{Jonas}+ I R Serious Cat Posts: 4955  |
Amazing album. Briliant and very dynamic. Cortege has to be one of teh best songs in there.
---- "Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689  |
IMO without any doubt, Apocalyptica's masterpiece and one of my all time favorite albums.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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