The music video for Apocalypse Orchestra‘s first single, “The Garden Of Earthly Delights” has gone viral with over 2 million views. This was an impressive start from a debuting band on their first music video from the first single on their debut album. Now Apocalypse Orchestra releases their second music video, this time for the song “Theatre of War“.
“War. The ultimate madness of the human race. Few things have shaped history as much. Imagine the horror of the peasant soldier, forced by a callous sovereign to march into battle. Bodies and limbs of those fallen strewn on the ground, a veritable feast for the carrion birds circling above. The survivors forever mentally scarred. A rain starts to fall. There is no glory in war.” // Apocalypse Orchestra
Standing with one leg in medieval times and the other in modern metal, Apocalypse Orchestra weaves their own special tapestry of music. The tones of the hurdy gurdy and the bagpipe entwines the heavy guitars and music separated by over 800 years meet. On Friday November 24th Apocalypse Orchestra release their debut album “The End Is Nigh” through Despotz Records
Lyrical themes ranges from everyday toils of the common man in the dark ages, onwards to art, science and literature all the way to otherworldly views of existence. The songs tell of flagellants, plague doctors, tales of hell, the meaninglessness of war and of suffering; they are all chapters in the bands grimoire. To balance it out they also shine a light on medieval art, science and enlightenment.
The debut album, “The End Is Nigh” features original compositions and lyrics with a heavy medieval flare, but also includes actual melodies hailing back as far as the 12th century. Featuring hurdy gurdy, bagpipe, cittern, lute, mandora and several more traditional instruments the ambience is set from the start.
Apocalypse Orchestra was formed by musical partners in crime Mikael Lindström and Erik Larsson based in Gävle, Sweden. Inspired by their love for folk music and slow metal they decided to combine the two. With a foundation of original music and lyrics but also incorporating melodies from as far back as the 11th century the goal was to create a musical homage to a era long since gone.
The band was completed with the addition of Jonas Lindh, Rikard Jansson and Andreas Skoglund. The Orchestra have since played live on clubs and festivals, as well as performing live with the Gävle Symphonic Orchestra. The band has been known for their theatrical performances, sometimes featuring actors, fire shows and projected animations to enhance the music.
In the fall of 2016 they started the recording of the debut album “The End Is Nigh”. The drums was recorded at Studio Overlook by William Blackmon (producer of Gadget, Beardfish, Isole among others) while all other instruments were recorded by Erik and Mikael at Studio Bordun. It was then mixed by Per Nilsson (Scar Symmetry/Kaipa) at Studio Kabyss and mastered by Fredrik Groth at Studio Flåklypa.