The only three ways to describe the band Apocalyptica are cellos, head-bang, and pure awesomeness. The band consists of four classically trained cellists (Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, Max Lilja, and Antero Manninen) who play covers of Metallica songs – yes you read that correctly: four classically trained cellists who cover Metallica songs.

At Bei Overdrive, a music venue in Europe, the band played Metallica’s “One” live. It was phenomenal. Due to the fact that they are all cellists and have no singer, the lyrics were played through a cello. No, the cello doesn’t talk, and if you didn’t know the lyrics to the original song you wouldn’t know that the cello was playing the notes that Metallica’s singer, James Hetfield, would normally sing. One cello was dedicated solely to playing the lyric portion of the song, and it blended the notes of the lyrics into the harmony created by the four cellos which were all playing in sync. The four cellos formed a harmony that replaced the need for an electric guitar, a bass, drums, and, as previously mentioned, vocals.

The concept of playing heavy metal songs on cellos seems too incredible to be true, but they did it perfectly. The song was completely fluid even when the band members needed to play a heavy drum line through cellos. The song just seemed to flow through me every time I listen to it. As if that alone wasn’t enough to impress somebody they also played guitar solos on cellos that night.

What they created is a new genre of music which I like to call “heavy classical-metal.” Yes, that’s just heavy metal with the word classical jammed in it, but that is the only way to name the genre of music that they played at Bei Overdrive. Their playing was incredible and I highly recommend them to anybody, no matter what kind of music they listen to.

Watch Apocolyptica’s Live Cover of “One”