Apocalyptica have unveiled a new cover of the Metallica‘s “The Call of Ktulu,” and the recording features the original bassline by the late Cliff Burton.
The Finnish metal cellists got the blessing of both the Metallica camp and Burton’s estate for the use of the bass part, which provides the backbone for this gorgeous rendition of the Ride the Lightning epic.
Burton’s playing is even more discernible here than on the original, as it’s mixed pretty hot against the strings and not buried beneath guitars and drums. Later in the track, Apocalyptica do bring in more typical metal instrumentation, but you can really hear all the nuances of Cliff’s playing when the strings are soloed in the mix.
“I’ve learned in life that if you have crazy ideas it’s always worth asking, so I called Lars!” said Apocalyptica founder Eicca Toppinen regarding the idea of implementing Cliff’s bass. “He was like, ‘I love that you guys always think outside of the box!’ James [Hetfield] loved the idea, and I met one of Cliff’s close relatives and she did, too. It was a spiritual experience working on this. We wanted to treat this with honor and maximum respect, and it was magical to have people so close to Cliff say that he would have loved it.”
The cover of “The Call of Ktulu” is the latest single from the forthcoming collection Apocalyptica Plays Metallica, Vol. 2 and follows the group’s cover of “One” featuring Hetfield and Robert Trujillo. The album was produced by longtime collaborator Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Tool) and will be released via new imprint Throwdown Entertainment this Friday (June 7th).
Apocalyptica will launch an extensive UK/European tour in the fall (get tickets here). Metallica, meanwhile, are in the midst of a European leg of their ongoing “M72 World Tour,” with the next North American run set for this summer (tickets available here).
Stream Apocalyptica’s cover of “The Call of Ktulu” featuring Cliff Burton below.