DimK: There is no point in telling lies; METAL TEMPLE reached the beautiful House Of Blues in Chicago to watch the Finnish cello band of APOCALYPTICA. DIR EN GREY was not in our must-watch list so, getting in concert with the Japanese band was like a bonus for us. I 'met' this band with the "Withering To Death" album back in 2005; this release had surprised me since I did not expect something that good from the Japanese Metal scene. Not that Japan cannot produce Metal (LOUDNESS comes to mind) but the current musical scene land of the rising sun is not a walk in the park.

DimK: So, after the very pleasant interview with APOCALYPTICA's main cello man Eicca we entered the main stage area. House Of Blues is like a temple with impressive hand-made decorations that simply breath all the musical genres making your wait until concert time short and delightful. The place looked pretty much full making me wonder what band did attract the main volume of the audience. But after DIR EN GREY had stepped on stage I got my answer…

"Sa Bir" the intro from the latest "Uroboros" album spread waves of enthusiasm to the young members of the audience as DIR EN GREY were coming on stage. "Red Soil" followed with the almost melodic start and the groovy part under the impressive lights and the killer sound. Kyo with his multi colour voice handled all the vocal layers of DIR EN GREY music at ease singing with a manga attitude that to my surprise had many female supporters. I have to acknowledge to this band for getting all the modern metalcore elements into a strange blend creating something that has to be considered as original. Most of the songs sound unconventional (the word progressive simply does not fit here) with chaotic structures that serve in perfection the confusing days we all live into.

"Hageshisa To, Kono Mune No Naka De Karamitsuita Shakunetsu No Yami" with the MACHINE HEAD influenced guitar riff sounded nice until the metalcore explosion during which Kyo sung his lungs out. Despite the fact that I did not understand their aesthetics, DIR EN GREY were 100% supporting to their music with the modern Japan looks and in times industrial profile. The setlist sounded solid while to my surprise most of the audience was aware of the lyrics and kind of sung-along in some parts. The definitely industrial and seriously insane "Rasetsukoku" was the last song of DIR EN GREY setlist that also faced a loud response from the younger members of the audience (I did saw some at their middle 30s trying to protect their ears from the loud music…). But the House Of Blues audience wanted more and after the appropriate screams the Japanese band returned with the fast and even more insane "Zan" (you have to watch the videoclip) that was the swan song of DIR EN GREY at the House Of Blues that night. The bottom line is that this band did hold up to DIR EN GREY's name and satisfied all their fans with an energetic performance and loud as hell sound. I did notice some of them leaving the venue proving that they had come just to watch DIR EN GREY. Hey, it was their lose since the Finnish cellos did more than well…

DIR EN GREY

1. "Sa Bir"
2. "Red Soil"
3. "Agitated Screams Of Maggots"
4. "Gaika, Chinmoku Ga Nemuru Koro"
5. "Obscure"
6. "Hageshisa To, Kono Mune No Naka De Karamitsuita Shekunetsu No Yami"
7. "Shokunemi"
8. "Bugaboo"
9. "Dozing Greeno"
10. "Vinhushka"
11. "The Final"
12. "Reiketsu Nariseba"
13. "Rasetsukoku"
14. "Zan"

MariaV: Three cellos, one transparent drum kit and a lot of emotion were the three main ingredients of that autumn night at the historic House Of Blues of Chicago where over than 1000 fans of APOCALYPTICA had deluged the main hall from the early evening, waiting for the Finnish quartet (this characterization fits just perfect!) to perform, having the brand new "7th Symphony" album inside the luggage. The enormous APOCALYPTICA dark banner portrayed the heavy cello-rain had set on the back side of the stage and everything seemed to be ready for the Finnish invasion. We were pretty lucky that had the opportunity to watch one more APOCALYPTICA show, especially in this glorious hall with such a great atmosphere making this place just perfect to greet that cello live show. Wait, or was it a rock concert?

The time clocked ten minutes after 8 o'clock, the first creaks of the cellos' strings had just been heard and the female teenage delirium just started. I couldn't imagine the love and the enthusiasm that the American audience could show to a European act but I was there and I saw it happened! The stage's thick curtain have been lifted and the natural darkness just enlightened by the three cellos and their holders. APOCALYPTICA didn't consider themselves as a METALLICA cover band anymore, not after 17 years of existence, 7 studio albums and about 20 video clips; they started their show with a METALLICA track though. "Wherever I May Roam" was the curtain raiser and they seemed to enjoy it pretty much as the audience did. Eicca Toppinen and Perttu Kivilaakso stood up in their main positions holding their beloved mistresses tenderly inside their hands, while Paavo Lötjönen paced the whole stage playing his cello merciless and Mikko Siren did its crazy stuff on the drums. "Refuse/ Resist" of SEPULTURA was the following track and some metalheads standing in the first lines in front of the stage started singing, accompanying and encouraging on that way APOCALYPTICA to play harder and harder.

The visual result was as amazing just as the acoustic one: there were no guitars solos, unstoppable riffage or some growling to blow-mind our heads off, but these guys rocked us down as hell! "Grace" came up next, reminding us something from the most recent "Worlds Collide" era and the entire House Of Blues changed the glorious and elegant face with a heavy and nasty one in about 15 minutes! Finally, "At The Gates Of Manala" was the first composition of the new album to welcome us into APOCALYPTICA's "7^th Symphony", especially the ones that hadn't the chance to give it a listening before the show, and did it with great success. When I was listening to this song for writing the review for METAL TEMPLE, I couldn't realize the dynamics and the energy which was hiding inside, not till the time that I watched it on that live performance. The three cellos turned into a huge tornado, spitting cello-riffs and frenetic growls from their strings while the drums showing them the right path to walk on. "End Of Me" and "I'm Not Jesus" were next with a little help of Tipe Johnson of LENINGRAD COWBOYS on vocals who sang better than the original versions, especially from the Corey Taylor one! I hope to join APOCALYPTICA some day as their regular singer because his appearance and his setting on stage beside the band fit just perfect.

"Master Of Puppets", right in the middle of the APOCALYPTICA set, was a really nice surprise for us because of the difficulty to being played with cellos live, especially in the vocals-theme part, and also is my personal METALLICA favorite track but Eicca, Perttu and Paavo proved that they got the guts being the 'Masters of Their Strings' for once again. The audience seemed to enjoy it and wanted some more from METALLICA but according to Eicca's saying it was time for relaxing and talked to us about one of his sexiest dreams including Mikko on cello. What a introduction that was for the acoustic part of the show! The three cellists took their chairs and sat in the middle of the stage, having Mikko standing right next to them with a bass-cello or something, and suddenly the first notes of "Beautiful" filled up the entire House Of Blues. Unfortunately, a bunch of fools started laughing and talking to each other messing up the great melancholic atmosphere that APOCALYPTICA had created in a few minutes. "Sacra" took the baton after that and traveled us through the icy Finland, causing shivers because of the song's tense. Whoever was inside the venue that night, can understand exactly what I'm talking about.

"Last Hope", "Seek & Destroy" and "Inquisition Symphony" were the last three songs before the APOCALYPTICA encore and lots of horns raised by the audience of every age, marking auspiciously that the last one hour belonged to the past. "I Don't Care" was the closing track of that unforgettable evening and everyone seemed to know the lyrics of this one, helping Tipe Johnson on vocals who appeared for the last time in front of us that night.

APOCALYPTICA setlist:

1. "Wherever I May Roam"
2. "Refuse/Resist"
3. "Grace"
4. "At The Gates Of Manala"
5. "End Of Me"
6. "I'm Not Jesus"
7. "Master Of Puppets"
8. "Beautiful"
9. "Sacra"
10. "Last Hope"
11. "Seek & Destroy"
12. "Inquisition Symphony"
13. "I Don't Care"

I really felt that APOCALYPTICA put a lot of effort in doing that show as much as their love that they have to us. APOCALYPTICA isn't just an act for fun or a cover band that three Finnish created almost two decades ago as most people think till today, but a connection, a tight bond of feelings, tons of music and lots of expertise in the right parts. Don't miss these guys if they'll pass by your neighborhood-make yourselves the favor and enjoy the APOCALYPTICA show, one of the best Metal performances you'd ever watch.

(photos by Poseidon's rage)