In these days of computer generated music, it seems that musical themes and ideas are being re-used and recycled more and more, to the point that original music is often hard to come by. There is however, a band that goes above and beyond the general musical expectations and originality of modern music:

Apocalyptica, the Finnish metal band.

Three young cellists at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki joined a band that specialized in playing all genres of music.  All three of these friends shared a love of heavy metal, and decided to form their own band. The group played at student dances, performing unique arangements of songs that were, for the most part, by the ledgendary metal band Metallica.

The band that would become Apocalyptica made their first big debut playing Metallica covers at a metal club. As luck would have it, a record company businessman was in this very audience, and was so astonished by the band’s new takes on classic metal songs that he instantly offered them a contract.

Though the band had low expectations of themselves, the record was an “overnight success” in Finland. Metal-heads and classical music fans alike appreciated the seemingly awkward combination, and as one band member later reflects “People in both worlds love good musicians”.

Apocalyptica spent the rest of the 90′s earning a reputation as a “jaw-dropping” live act, and released their second album in 1998, with their three first original songs. By the time 2000′s album ‘Cult’ came around, the band decided to move away from cover songs and produce nearly a whole album’s worth of original material, setting the band’s great reputation in stone.A successful collaboration in 2003 with the drummer from Slayer (Dave Lombardo) brought a new angle to the band – a rhythm section – and they soon hired their own full-time drummer.

The band’s latest release – 2007’s “Worlds Collide”-   is a good mix of this band’s older styles, and introduces many unexpected new ideas. World’s Collide includes collaborations with Stone Sour/Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia, 3 Days Grace vocalist Adam Gontier and again their long time friend and collaborator Dave Lombardo.

When it comes to I’m not Jesus though, I think that the song’s meaning is quite profound, though it might not seem that way the first time you listen to it. In my opinion, the song’s religious affiliations are not specific to Christianity (or Jesus), but to belief in a god in general. I believe (and bare with me here) that believing in God can be quite misleading, and that people don’t need to have good intentions to pray. People will attach themselves to the notion of “God” because it is constant and unchanging, and many people spend their lives searching for stability. The song is interesting as it addresses the issue, as well as bringing in several others.

I highly suggest looking up the lyrics when listening to this song – I believe it makes it quite a bit more interesting. And, as far as Apocalyptica goes, give them a chance! They’ve made some pretty incredible accomplishments musically on instruments never-before-seen taking the stage in metal.

To Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k491GjjFr7A