Apocalyptica recently thanked Metallica by giving James Hetfield their new custom skis and posting a message on Instagram. They shared a video of the moment and wrote in the caption:
“Without Metallica, Apocalyptica would not be the same band as it is now—probably not even exist! We’re very thankful for all the musical inspiration that shaped us as a band and the contribution to our album ‘Plays Metallica Vol. 2.’”
The band teamed up with PUSU Loska for the skis that supported their logo on smoked oak sheet. The post shared:
“When we met James in Helsinki, we gave him the first pair of our Loska Apocalyptica skis by PUSU as a symbol of our gratitude. Who would have thought, 28 years ago when we started this, that we’d become friends with these amazing guys and even work together on an Apocalyptica album!”
Metallica-Apocalyptica Collaboration Received Backlash
Metallica joined Apocalyptica for a few songs on their latest album, ‘Plays Metallica Vol. 2,’ including a rendition of ‘One’ with James Hetfield and Rob Trujillo. The new take on the 1988 track received mixed reactions from listeners.
Toppinen responded to the feedback in early June:
“That just shows how the world is, how people in the world are. Of course, everybody has the right to their own opinion, but the whole world lies in the place in a way that nothing should change, and if something is good you shouldn’t touch it. There’s a lack of play and fun. So for me, it feels like, if I see that kind of comments, ‘This sucks,’ and blah blah blah, whatever rage people want to put in there.”
He went on:
“I filter it out because I just know that in general there are a lot of people who just like to rage about things. It also feels to me that these people don’t understand it, they don’t get the point why this version exists. They don’t actually probably even understand what the f*cking lyrics are about.”
The New Project Didn’t Feature All Of Metallica
Trujillo also appeared on ‘The Four Horsemen’ track, while Lars Ulrich chose not to join the project. Toppinen explained why to Chaoszine:
“One of the coolest parts related to this whole Metallica thing was when we, of course, kept the door open for Lars to be a part of this, but after he thought about it, he declined. The reason for that was cool.”
He recalled:
“He said, ‘If Rob is there, and James is there, and you have Cliff’s bass track, then me being there as well will turn it into just Metallica. It would be all about Metallica. It has to be Apocalyptica. The focus has to be on Apocalyptica. We don’t want to take it away from you.’ For me, that was the coolest moment.”
Apocalyptica is set to support ‘Plays Metallica Vol. 2’ with a world tour later this year and early 2025. Their first stop will be Dubai on September 13.