7th Symphony is the seventh studio album by the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica. It was released on August 20, 2010, in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, August 23, 2010, in the rest of the world, and August 24, 2010, in the U.S. and Canada. Released three years after their previous album Worlds Collide, Apocalyptica continued the practice of having four tracks with featured vocalists, while the remaining tracks are all instrumental. Dave Lombardo of Slayer was once again featured on drums, on the track entitled "2010". The band toured with touring vocalist Tipe Johnson in support of the album in Europe, Mexico, Canada, the US and Venezuela since the summer of 2010.

The first single "End of Me" with Gavin Rossdale of Bush on vocals, was premiered on Finnish Radio Ylex on June 7, 2010. It received radio play June 28, 2010,[2] and its release date was on August 6, 2010, in Germany.[3] The second single from the album, "Broken Pieces" with Lacey Sturm, formerly of Flyleaf, was released in October 2010. The third single, "Not Strong Enough" featuring Brent Smith, was released in November 2010, but not in the US, where another version of the song, featuring Doug Robb of Hoobastank on vocals, started playing on US radio on January 18, 2011.[4] The song was re-recorded with Robb after the band failed to secure the rights to release the song with Smith's vocals to U.S. radio from Shinedown's label, Atlantic Records.[5] Accordingly, the promotional video for "Not Strong Enough" was re-released with Doug Robb replacing all scenes that were initially shot with Brent Smith.

The track "Bring Them to Light" was originally written for Worlds Collide, but both Joe Duplantier (of Gojira) and Apocalyptica were unhappy with the original, and so they decided to re-work the track, and re-record it for their next studio album.[6]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Joe Barresi, except for "Not Strong Enough" and "Broken Pieces" produced by Howard Benson.

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."At the Gates of Manala"Perttu Kivilaakso, Paavo Lötjönen, Mikko Sirén, Eicca Toppinen7:03
2."End of Me" (feat. Gavin Rossdale of Bush)Johnny Andrews, Gavin Rossdale, Toppinen3:29
3."Not Strong Enough" (feat. Brent Smith of Shinedown)Diane Warren3:36
4."2010" (feat. Dave Lombardo of Slayer)Kivilaakso, Lombardo, Lötjönen, Sirén4:32
5."Beautiful"Kivilaakso2:19
6."Broken Pieces" (feat. Lacey Sturm of Flyleaf)Fiora Cutler, Guy Sigsworth, Toppinen3:55
7."On the Rooftop with Quasimodo"Sirén5:00
8."Bring Them to Light" (feat. Joe Duplantier of Gojira)Duplantier, Toppinen4:42
9."Sacra[A]"Sirén, Toppinen4:22
10."Rage of Poseidon"Kivilaakso, Lötjönen, Sirén, Toppinen8:49
11."Return Game" (bonus track when downloaded from Amazon)Toppinen4:16
Total length:52:03
Notes
  • A ^"Sacra" is partly inspired by Finnish folk song "Peltoniemen Hintriikan Surumarssi".[7]

Release

7th Symphony was released in six different formats.

Standard CD

Contains the standard 10-track album.

Vinyl LP

Contains the standard 10-track album.

Limited edition CD/DVD

Contains 12 songs (additional tracks being "Through Paris in A Sportscar" and "The Shadow of Venus") and a bonus DVD with filmed acoustic recordings from a session at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, recorded on June 4, 2010.

Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Through Paris in a Sportscar"Sirén3:52
12."The Shadow of Venus"Kivilaakso, Toppinen4:04
Bonus DVD "Acoustic at The Sibelius Academy" (live performance)
No.TitleLength
1."Beautiful"2:37
2."Not Strong Enough" (feat. Tipe Johnson of Leningrad Cowboys)4:06
3."End of Me" (feat. Tipe Johnson)3:25
4."I Don't Care" (feat. Tipe Johnson)3:40
5."Sacra"4:05
6."Bittersweet"3:40

Digital download

Digital download versions include the standard 10-track edition and the limited 12-track edition of the album, with additional bonus tracks "Spiral Architect" or "Return Game". The iTunes bonus track "Spiral Architect" is a cover of Black Sabbath and was also featured in the free CD available with the September 2010 issue of Metal Hammer.

iTunes deluxe edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Spiral Architect" (Black Sabbath cover from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973))Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward3:16

USB stick

A cello-shaped USB stick with 10 songs, plus "Through Paris In A Sports Car " and "The Shadow Of Venus", as well as "End Of Me" video, On the Road with Apocalyptica tour film (Ukraine 2010) and digital booklet.

Limited red vinyl

Contains standard 10-track album. Released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland only.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rock Sound[8]
Type 3 Media[9]

Phil Freeman of Allmusic felt that 7th Symphony was a "string tribute"[1] while Merlin Alderslade of Rock Sound said it was not a spectacular album in comparison to Apocalyptica's previous album Worlds Collide.[8]

Personnel

Guest musicians

Charts

Chart (2010)ProviderPeak
position
CertificationSales[10]/
shipments
Finnish Albums Chart[11]IFPI/YLE2--
German Albums Chart[12]IFPI/Media Control6--
Mexican Albums Chart[13]AMPROFON15--
Polish Albums Chart [14]OLiS/ZPAV5Gold[15]10.000[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c Freeman, Phil. "Apocalyptica – 7th Symphony > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  2. ^ "Apocalyptica Prepare for New Album "7th Symphony" Archived 2010-08-01 at the Wayback Machine" Apocalyptica.com. May 18, 2010.
  3. ^ "Siebtes Studioalbum "7th Symphony" erscheint am 20. August. Erste Single "End of Me" feat. Gavin Rossdale ab 6. August erhältlich Archived 2010-06-01 at the Wayback Machine" Apocalyptica.de. May 5, 2010
  4. ^ List of future releases on Alternative Radio Stations Allaccess.com. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  5. ^ Apocalyptica Pulls Smith's Vocals For Single AlternativeAddiction.com. January 8, 2011.
  6. ^ "Apocalyptica – New Album Information (World Collide)" metalstorm.net July 3, 2007
  7. ^ Seventh Symphony liner notes.
  8. ^ a b Alderslade, Merlin. "Apocalyptica – 7th Symphony > Review". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  9. ^ P., J. "Album Review: Apocalyptica – 7th Symphony". Type 3 Media. Archived from the original on 2010-09-18. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  10. ^ Certification award levels Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine IFPI. Retrieved August 2009.
  11. ^ Suomen virallinen lista – IFPI.fi
  12. ^ "Metal-Band Accept im Höhenflug" (in German). Media Control Charts. August 31, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  13. ^ "Mexican Charts > Apocalyptica: 7th Symphony" (PDF). amprofon.com.mx. AMPROFON. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2007. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  14. ^ "Polish Album sales chart for 23.08.2010 – 29.08.2010". OLiS. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  15. ^ "List of Polish Gold certifications" (in Polish). ZPAV. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  16. ^ "Polish Certification Award levels" (in Polish). ZPAV. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2011.

External links