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In the course of reciting what is by now surely a rote preamble, Eicca Toppinen accidentally nearly reduces the tale of perhaps the most improbable, unintentional rise of a band through the ranks of the popular music industry you might ever hear to something so ordinary, so linear, so straightforward, it may as well be one of those spammish how-to listicles that pop up in the middle of your Facebook feed.
Eight Easy Steps to Becoming International Heavy Metal Stars.
"We were studying classical [cello], but we were big fans of heavy metal as well," he began in a telephone interview. "We started to do some metal for fun. We started with some Metallica songs. We did that for a few years, playing for friends, playing at parties. … We got an invitation to play in a metal club in Helsinki. And from that gig, we got an offer to make an album, which was our first album as Apocalyptica, 'Plays Metallica by Four Cellos.' That was 20 years ago in May. We didn't have any plans to form a band — we did that album for the experience. But it got heard around the world, and we got more requests to play shows, and the whole thing started to roll from there. … And now we've got our eighth studio album, 'Shadowmaker,' out already.
"So, it's been a long journey," he concludes, finally scraping the surface of the situationally appropriate gravity necessary for properly detailing his and his friends' transition from conservatory students in Finland to … well, international heavy metal stars.
The latest stop in the long journey is at Salt Lake City's In The Venue this Saturday night.
That the band ever made it at all — let alone 20 years and counting — is something of a feat. After all, a four-piece cello band featuring no guitars and doing all instrumentals does not sound like a prime candidate to be embraced by the heavy metal community.
Even Toppinen says he was initially taken aback by Apocalyptica's acceptance.
"I think in the beginning it was really surprising how well the metal crowd took us," he said. "The metal community, in a way, it's very traditional and conservative, but at the same time it's always open for new kinds of stuff and new kinds of projects and new kinds of way of presenting metal."
Then again, the fact that the band's beginning consisted entirely of Metallica covers didn't hurt. But while those performances drew acclaim for being hauntingly hypnotic and melodically mesmerizing, the members of Apocalyptica knew that evolution was ultimately necessary.
The band's lineup now features three cellists, a drummer and a full-time singer. The music has changed, too. While they still bust out some covers during live performances, and plan to release some new ones later this year in honor of their two-decade anniversary — "It's a secret what it is!" Toppinen teased — they realized that a shift toward original material was needed.
"When we played the first albums, we got a lot of comments that, 'OK, this is kind of a limited thing, and it can't go on,' " Toppinen said. "For the last 10 years, we've been mainly writing our own songs, and we've found that's the best way to stay together as a band, and [for] the general sound of the band. Writing our own music has given us more freedom, in a way."
That included the decision to go away from their previous habit of using multiple guest vocalists on albums and go with one guy for "Shadowmaker" and the subsequent tour.
While the likes of Bush's Gavin Rossdale, Shinedown's Brent Smith and Slipknot's Corey Taylor made for some memorable songs, the addition of Franky Perez has served to eliminate a lot of needless drama, Toppinen said.
"Working with guest singers is big fun, but also chaos. You have four different singers, and they all have their complications with record companies or management or whatever. … And on tour we had a different singer who'd never recorded anything with us. It was all sort of very tiring," he said. "Then we decided, we've done this for so long the same way — now we want to make … a real band record. We felt the only way to do that is to have one singer, who is always available — on pre-production, on songwriting — to work together and to have a good time with. … This time we got someone who's very cool to work with in Franky. He's an outstanding singer, an outstanding musician — an absolutely fantastic guy. It went really well. I think he's really cool, and it's really cool to be on tour with him now."
And while Toppinen and the rest of Apocalyptica still enjoy keeping their classical chops sharp — "We've composed an opera, which premiered at the national opera this January," he noted with pride — he loves that touring on the strength of their unconventional metal gives them a chance on a nightly basis to convince the lingering nonbelievers.
"There was a lot of that 'gimmick' thing going on with the first album — especially among the people who didn't see us live. But I think whenever people see us live they realize, OK, we have a set of skills that nobody else has!" he said, jokingly channeling his inner Liam Neeson. "I think in order to really understand Apocalyptica, it's necessary to be at the live shows to see how it really actually happens, and the level of energy. And also to hear that it really happens by cellos. There's a lot of skeptics who say, 'You have guitars on the album.' No, no, no — it's all cellos. Come to the show and you will see!"
Cello metal? You see, Eicca? Give yourself some credit — there's nothing ordinary, linear or straightforward about that.
Twitter: @esotericwalden —
Apocalyptica
With 10 Years and Failure Anthem
When • Saturday, April 30, 7 p.m.
Where • In The Venue: 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $25 advance, $28 day of; 24tix.com
More online • Go to http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment for a Q&A with Apocalyptica's Eicca Toppinen