After a five year break between studio albums, neo-classic metal quartet Apocalyptica return with a new record. Cell-0 (pronounce Cell Zero) marks their overall 9th studio full-length effort and their first instrumental offering in seventeen years. The self-produced album was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki and mixed by Andrew Scheps (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, and Black Sabbath) in the UK.

After the release of 2015’s Shadowmaker, Apocalyptica got busy touring across the world in celebration of the 20th-anniversary of their debut album Apocalyptica Plays Metallica By Four Cellos. This celebration consisted of a re-release version of the album that included three new tracks and a very long tour with over 400 shows around the globe. At the same time, they laid the blueprints for what Cell 0 was going to be. 

The album kicks off with “Ashes Of The Modern World,” an eerie and furious track setting the entire mood of what’s to come. A warning is about to be fulfilled, being a premonition on the progressing decay of our world as we know it. While listening to the title track “Cell-0,” I couldn’t stop thinking about images of the snow-covered forests or those large snow-covered fields that you see while driving on the highway. The song does not just inspire you to have a winter feeling, but it gives the listener a real mood, a winter frame of mind. 

“En Route To Mayhem” is, without a doubt, the heaviest and most progressive song on the album. It sounds and feels like the perfect knot between classical music and heavy metal, a tight combination of delicate melodies and blasting sounds dancing around one another and creating a sense of togetherness. “Fire and Ice” is an interesting tune with a big Scandinavian folky vibe that it could be easily used in one of those battle episodes of the series Vikings, definitely one of my favorite tracks from this album. 

“Catharsis,” as the name itself indicates, is a very harmonic and liberating track relaxing to the ear. The cello melodies are quite transpiring and filled with passion. “Beyond The Stars” closes the album very differently from how it started, definitely a track filled with furious tranquility, giving a sense of character to the record.

It seems Apocalyptica plays with different elements throughout the album from classical moving melodies to progressive and folk metal all knit together tightly and refined that seems almost seamless and natural to the ear. 

Apocalyptica will embark on a 23-date European tour supporting Cell 0 that begins on January 17, 2020, in Zurich, Switzerland. The tour also includes a special headlining date on February 10 in Dusseldorf, Germany, where the band will play Cell 0 in its entirety.

Cell-0 was released on January 10th. Grab your copy here.

Tour Dates:

01/17 Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion

01/18 Stuttgart, Germany @ Schleyerhalle

01/19 Munich, Germany @ Olympiahalle

01/21 Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer

01/22 Budapest, Hungary @ Arena

01/24 Warsaw, Poland @ Torwar

01/25 Berlin, Germany @ Max Schmeling Halle

01/26 Prague, Czech Republic @ O2 Arena

01/28 Milan, Italy @ Alcatraz

01/30 Leipzig, Germany @ Arena Leipzig

01/31 Frankfurt, Germany @ Festhalle

02/01 Oberhausen, Germany @ König Pilsener Arena

02/02 Antwerp, Belgium @ Sportpaleis

02/04 Barcelona, Spain @ Sant Jordi

02/05 Madrid, Spain @ Vistalegre

02/07 Paris, France @ Zenith

02/08 London, UK @ Wembley Arena

02/09 Amsterdam, The Netherlands @ Afas Live

02/10 Dusseldorf, Germany @ Zakk

02/11 Hamburg, Germany @ Sporthalle

02/12 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Forum Black Box 

02/14 Gothenburg, Sweden @ Scandinavium

02/15 Stockholm, Sweden @ Hovet

02/17 Oslo, Norway @ Spektrum