Those chill cellists in Apocalyptica are set to release their seventh studio album 7th Symphony on August 23rd (August 20 if you live in Germany). Per a press release issued yesterday, the band will continue its relatively recent but oh-so-successful practice of including guest vocalists on some of the songs.
The first single, “End Of Me”, will feature Gavin Rossdale, best known as the vocalist of Bush. Another one, “Broken Pieces”, will include vocals by Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm, and “Not Strong Enough” will be sung by Brent Smith (Shinedown). Looks like we’re in for more hard rock from Apocalyptica.
We can’t honestly complain about this, because we’ve got a serious weakness for Apocalyptica, even though their music has drifted far beyond the boundaries of what we write about here at NCS.
But here’s the part of the press release that’s worth a mention on this site:
The album also features a number of other notable guest performances: Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo plays on “2010”, [and] “Bring Them To Light” features Joseph Duplantier, singer and guitarist of the French death metal band Gojira . . . .
Say what?!? (more after the jump . . .)
Any action that involves Joe Duplantier is going to perk us right up, because, well, we think Gojira are pretty much the current rulers of the metal universe. Seems like lots of other people feel the same way (e.g., Metallica, and now Apocalyptica).
Wonder what the hell Duplantier is going to do on that song “Bring Them To Light”? Has Apocalyptica decided it’s time to add a slice of serious riffage to their electrified string sound? Or could it be that we’re going to get the first Apocalyptica song to feature some honest-to-god extremity in the vocal department?
Either way, this is reason enough to remember August 23. It will also be interesting to hear what Dave Lombardo does to the sound of “2010”.
To tide you over till August, here’s some fan-filmed video of Apocalyptica performing a new song called “Beautiful” on March 28, 2010 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, and then again on March 20, 2010 in Oulu, Finland. We assume this song will be on the new album, but who knows?
Apocalyptica has also released dates for a tour to promote the new album:
MAY
21.05.10 US – Nashville, TN – WUBZ Hootenanny
22.05.10 US – Louisville, KY – Headliners
23.05.10 US – Columbus, OH – Rock On The Range
29.05.10 US – Indianapolis, IN – WRZX ‚May Day’
JULY
08.07.10 MX – Mexico City – Metropolitain Theatre
09.07.10 MX – Mexico City – Metropolitain Theatre
15.07.10 US – Cadott, WI – Rock Fest
16.07.10 US – Pontiac, MI – Eagle Theatre
17.07.10 US – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
18.07.10 CA – Quebec City, QE – Summer Festival
29.07.10 CH – Luzern – Blue Balls Festival
30.07.10 DE – Loreley – Rockarea Festival
31.07.10 UK – Knebworth – Sonisphere Festival
AUGUST
07.08.10 FI – Pori – Sonisphere Festival
12.08.10 RU – Moscow – B1