Apocalyptica was formed in 1993 when four cellists, Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, Max

Lilja, and Antero Manninen gathered to play Metallica songs at Sibelius-Academy. They
played in an after-Christmas party as a "Jailhouse Band" at the Teatro Heavy Metal Club.
That evening the line-up was Toppinen, Lilja, Manninen and Perttu Kivilaakso (who was to
join the band permanently in 1999.) Among the audience was Kari Hynninen, who worked for
the independent label Zen Garden Records. After listening to Apocalyptica's set, Kari
Hynninen signed them on the contract for spot to Zen Garden Records.

In 1996, Apocalyptica released their debut studio album, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos,
which consisted only of Metallica songs played on cellos. In 1998, Apocalyptica released
their second studio album, Inquisition Symphony, which was produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa.
Inquisition Symphony again contained songs of Metallica, but also contained songs of Faith
No More, Sepultura, and Pantera. For this album the band also decided to include three
original songs written by Eicca Toppinen.

In 1999, Antero Manninen left the group, and was replaced by Perttu Kivilaakso. In 2000,
Apocalyptica released their third studio album, Cult, which featured 10 original songs, and 3
songs. And it was after the recording of Cult that an Apocalyptica track was first seen
featuring vocals, "Path Vol. 2". In 2002, Max Lilja left the group and joined Hevein, leaving
Apocalyptica with only three members.

In 2003, Apocalyptica released their fourth studio album, Reflections, which consisted for the
first time of all original songs. Reflections featured a more experimental sound, instead of the
previous acoustic style arrangements found on Inquisition Symphony and Cult. Dave
Lombardo from Slayer played drums on five songs from Reflections. As he was unable to join
the band on the following tour, the band hired Mikko Sirén, who stay with the band for future
tours as well as the recording of the next album.

In 2005, Apocalyptica released their fifth studio album, Apocalyptica. This album featured a
number of guest musicians including Ville Valo of HIM, Lauri Ylönen of The Rasmus, and
again Dave Lombardo. They also recorded the Intro for Bullet For My Valentine's album The
Poison. In December 2005 Mikko Sirén was announced as an official band member.

Apocalyptica released their sixth studio album, Worlds Collide, on September 17, 2007. It
was produced by Jacob Hellner. To the surprise of many, the album includes a German
version of David Bowie's song "Heroes". Till Lindemann of Rammstein, for whom they
opened on the Reise, Reise tour, was the guest vocalist on the track "Helden". Worlds Collide
was released on April 15, 2008 in the United States. The first single "I'm not Jesus" featuring
Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour.

To end 2007, the band toured Europe successfully, selling out many of the albums. In 2008
the tour continued in US and included numerous festivals in Europe.

The band has played about 850-1000 concerts during their career in 50 countries.

Apocalyptica announced a large world tour for 2008, including concerts in Europe and North
America (including Mexico). They have sold over three million albums .

In June 2008, during the Rock in Rio concert in Lisbon, Apocalyptica joined the Greenpeace
"energy [r]evolution campaign" and played the Beethoven 5th symphony.