Worlds Collide Review

Release Date: Apr 15, 2008
Label: Sony BMG
Genres: Cello Metal
Number Of Tracks: 11
Despite a few issues with guest musicians, Apocalyptica continue to awe listeners with its blend of classical-metal on Worlds Collide.

Sound:	8.5
Lyrics:	7.5
Impression:	8.5
Overall rating:	8.2
Users rating:	8
Comments:	23

overall: 8

Featured review by: UG Team, on april 30, 2008

Sound: Apocalyptica, the band that has blended metal and classical music so seamlessly, seems to be making an attempt to branch out to a much larger audience on its 6th release Worlds Collide. While Apocalyptica once gained attention as a novelty (a group of cellists that covered Metallica and Slayer tunes for a living), it no longer has to rely on other groups’ hits. The Finnish band has written plenty of original material in the past, but the latest album Worlds Collide takes a turn into an even broader, more accessible direction. Apocalyptica can always make a song sound impeccable, but it is actually going -- dare I say it -- in a more mainstream direction. There are still plenty of tracks that feel like the Apocalyptica heard on early albums, but they’ve brought in a handful of guest musicians on Worlds Collide that take things in a very unexpected direction.

The opening track “Worlds Collide” delivers exactly what Apocalyptica fans would hope to hear -- powerful, dark melodies that are executed flawlessly. While the first few notes sound similar to the sweet melody of Pachelbel’s Canon, things are taken in a much more metal-worthy direction in no time. There’s a perfect combination of the traditional cello sound and an effects-driven rock sound, and you can almost see Apocalyptica starting out any of it's stage shows with a powerful track like “Worlds Collide.”

There were multiple guest musicians who offered their talents to the new album, with Stone Sour/Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Rammstein’s Till Lindemann, and Slayer’s Dave Lombardo among the impressive roster. All of them do a credible job, but they also take a chunk out of the typical Apocalyptica sound at the same time. This wouldn’t be a bad thing if it meant the songs became more powerful or mind-blowing, but much of the time things just end up sounding like a typical radio song. Corey Taylor sings on “I’m Not Jesus,” a track that ends up feeling more like a Stone Sour track than Apocalyptica’s material. The instruments get pushed too far back and it becomes all about Taylor, who although a great frontman, shouldn’t necessarily steal the spotlight. This is also the case in Three Days Grace’s Adam Gontier’s appearance, with his contribution to “I Don’t Care” just not matching the drama that is usually present in Apocalyptica’s tracks.

The exception to the guest musician issue is Rammstein’s Till Lindemann, who not surprisingly delivers a stunning performance. Oddly enough, the track “Helden” is actually a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” but you wouldn’t guess it immediately. Lindemann and the band put such a unique twist on the song that it is a true testament to their talent. Another satisfying addition to the album is Dave Lombardo, who delivers his amazing percussion skills to “Last Hope.” // 8

Lyrics and Singing: Although many of the tracks are instrumental, we do get a few lyrics this time thanks to the addition of guest vocalists. The most impressive track lyrically is “I’m Not Jesus,” which apparently was inspired by the sexual abuse occurring in the Catholic Church. The topic is a delicate one, but Corey Taylor does it justice with his emotional delivery. In one section he sings, “Drift among the faithful; Bury your desires; Aberrations fill your head; You need a place to hide.” It’s a gutsy theme to take on, and the band deserves credit for tackling the uncomfortable subject. // 8

Impression: I’ve got mixed emotions with Worlds Collide, primarily because there are times when Apocalyptica begins to sound a little too much like typical rock bands. At certain moments, it seems like it becomes more about the guest vocalists, and the musicianship among the band seems to be hidden, or worse, not even sound like the Apocalyptica we’ve heard in the past decade. But when the band is on it's own, you still get some absolutely amazing compositions that are inspired and remind you exactly why they deserve a cushy spot in the metal scene. // 8

overall: 8.3

Reviewed by: Kastöm, on january 12, 2009

Sound: Worlds Collide is the 6th studio album from the Finnish symphonic metal cello masters, Apocalyptica. (now that's a mouthfull) The music styles in this album are very unique. A lot of the songs traverse along a very similar path, and in this rare case it is a very good thing. Nearly all songs in this album have incredibly heavy, balls to the wall playing, to the extent where when I first heard the album I refused to believe the absence of any and all guitar playing. Apocalyptica have managed to make a very epic yet very heavy record in spite of not having a guitarist or bassist to begin with. // 9

Lyrics and Singing: As Apocalyptica doesn´t have a vocalist, all singing performed on Worlds Collide is performed by guest appearances. The album for the most part, is instrumental, thus only 4 of the 11 songs have lyrics. Unfortunately, the one notable setbacks in the album are the tracks with singing. This is due to the fact that for some strange enough reason, these tracks have a far more mainstream sound especially in the choruses of said tracks. This in itself is not a very bad thing, but the tracks sound completely set apart and distant from the instrumental tracks, thus the instrumental and lyrical tracks don´t blend in too well. Keeping this in mind, I´m Not Jesus feat. Corey Taylor is rather excellent. Not only do the instruments maintain a good amount of `apocalypticaness`, but the lyrics sound good and are original, the concept of the song is about a man who was abused by a priest as a child.

Helden, feat Lindemann is a track that couldnt come down to taste much more. The lyrics again are very meaningful, covering David Bowie´s Heroes. The sound of this song however is very bland, with simplistic drum fills, and slow cellos, the fact that the singer´s voice doesn´t fit with the sound at all, and the odd sounding german lyrics don´t help the situation. However meaningful the lyrics of this song may be, it doesn´t pack the power of the other songs in the album. Often while listening to this track I felt the overpowering urge to simply skip to the next track. Again, this track comes down to taste alot, but it certainly doesn´t fit in with the fast, epic sounding instrumentals.

The worst track on the album however, is I Don´t Care feat. Adam Gontier. Where Lindemann´s voice doesn´t fit in the least in Helden, I Don't Care sounds like it is crapping itself to death. With a verse not the least bit interesting, and a chorus which sounds like the commonly used `every Nickelback chorus`. S.O.S. feat. Christina Scabbia is another very `meh` song, completely distant from the powerful melodies of previous tracks. This is another situation where the chorus and such sound far too mainstream, at times you may even forget you´re listening to Apocalyptica. // 7

Impression: Overall the album is promising, forget three of the four singing tracks, and what you have is a barrage of heavy symphonic metal. The songs that make a standing impression are the title track `Worlds Collide` for it's feel and flow. `Ion` for it's impeccably badass riffing which will make you want to walk up to your local mailman and deliver a severe blow to his crotch, and `Stroke` With a very epic, smooth, inspirational sound.

The typical metalhead should find this album rather appealing. The singers featured on the album are beyond skilled, but a break from the typical war and politics themes isn´t enough to make a song stand out. If Apocalyptica stays on the same track but puts more effort into future lyrical tracks they should be headed in the right direction. Though there are a few occasions where the record stumbles into a pond of muddy water, they are easy to forgive when it shines hotter and brighter than the sun. // 9

Comments

[Wigert]

Ok, here its been out since September the 14th last year. But I guess you're Americans. Anyways its a great record with great collaborations With Till and Corey amongst others. Its amazing how they can with Cellos make other metal bands look like teenager garage bands. Great Album.

[Regression]

I havn't heard the whole cd but I was disappointed with how far the cellos were pushed back in I'm Not Jesus aswell.

[euan_soad]

Last Hope is fantastic, and was so live

[Circle]

I share your view, they should not put their cellos in the background.. in fact, in their instrumental songs I never miss a voice. Though some great things have come out ouf the collaborations with vocalists, I really like their instrumentals. on this album Grace is my favorite (closely followed by Worlds Collide).

[James_Het_Rules]

Ion, Worlds Collide, and Last Hope were my favorite instrumental ones on there, and I'm Not Jesus and Helden were the only ones with vox i really liked at all, i love these guys though, they kick major ass and i'd love to be able to see em live sometday.

[CapnKickass]

The I Don't Care song kind of sucks, you can barely hear the cellos at all.
Hall of the Mountain King ftw!

[chtulu]

Good review. I'm a fan of both classical and metal so I really like this band. I know what he means when he says sometimes the cellos are pushed back in favour of the vocalists, but overall this is still a great album. Cellos are the new guitar! (Maybe not).

[Sober_god]

I agree with most of the review. When i saw corey doing a song with the guys i was very happy to see them get more popular musicions (wich doesnt mean better musicions).But when i heard the song with amy lee i was like ****, they have gone to far. Maybe they needed to do something like this i dont know... this is just a small thing the album is still great, hope they dont **** it up in the future

[benrochlin]

Yeh its different from what they have done before... but they still have aspects of there old music whilst taking it in a new direction... ive seen this album live and it really is stunning.

[spencer Cr]

the worst song on the album was i don't care, it had no power and was very radio friendly i hated it.
but if you read the booklet you'll find out that all the songs that sound "radio friendly' were co-written between apocalyptica and a few other people. this very much so explains why they sound that way. if only apocalyptica wrote them they sound sound very different and possibly better. however i did like SOS that's a great song.

[Lefty7Stringer]

what's next are they gonna cut their hair and collaborate with fallout boy?

[benrochlin]

Lefty7Stringer wrote:

what's next are they gonna cut their hair and collaborate with fallout boy?

Thats a bit cruel... listen to songs like SOS and Stroke on this album and see if you can honestly say that this is a bad album or that Apocalyptica are going down hill

[Devilguy]

Sober_god wrote:

.But when i heard the song with amy lee i was like ****, they have gone to far. Maybe they needed to do something like this i dont know...

What song are you talking about... If your talking about SOS it's not Amy Lee it's Cristina Scabbia the singer in Lacuna Coil

[Chris.Rock.Art]

I didn't really like the songs with lyrics, but the instrumental parts were GENIUS

[Chris.Rock.Art]

btw, this album was available in nicaragua in december.

[Roy Blackhart]

i love them. lol my dad doesnt realize they tribute to alot of metal songs i guess like Metallica lmao but he loves it

[Afifreak11]

this album was really bad
even the instrumentals lacked feeling and depth
they should stick to what they do best
revamping others material
and not have anyone singing
-5 out of 5

[HellRaiser620]

No mention of the awesome song "Grace" featuring the guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu!? This is an outrage!

[(SIC)3V4N(SIC)]

I think these guys are amazing. I dont care what anyone else says about them. Being a big slipknot fan i loved "I'm not jesus" with corey taylor, but my favorite track would have to be "somewhere around nothing".

[Lauri]

Apocalyptica is one of my fave bands. I haven't heard this album but the reviews seem pretty good. I don't overly like most of the vox on these songs as they are great instrumentalists.

[[travis]]

I've only listened to "I'm Not Jesus," and I have to say that it's pretty good. At first I thought this was Corey Taylor's new band, but then I looked up this band and saw he was just a guest. It's a good song, and I think the cellos they use for that song are electric, and they're the ones doing all of that distortion, or I could be wrong. Good song though.

[fireyqwerty]

Im thought the album was great but was disappointed in how much the cellos got pushed around with the guest vocals EXCEPT Helden with Till Lindemann which is with out doubt my favorite track with a guest vocal because it is mixed and balanced perfectly, over all its a good listen

[racman92]

I havent heard the whole album... but now I need to. I know that I love "I'm not Jesus", probably because Im a huge slipknot fan. But this band really does rock the other songs.