Earlier this week, on Oct 4th, bassist of the legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler, joined Finnish Symphonic metal band Apocalyptica in Las Vegas as the band finishes up the last few legs of their current North American tour with Norwegian rock act Leprous as they travel throughout the United States to perform Black Sabbath’s song “War Pigs.” Apocalyptica’s touring vocalist Franky Perez had performed many of Black Sabbath’s top hits earlier in the tour as an homage to Perez and Butler’s past collaborations, making the conjoined performance a convenient moniker of recent events, especially considering both musicians do take residence in Las Vegas themselves. Just last March, Butler and Perez appeared on record with Apocalyptica on the track titled “I’ll Get Through It,” with lyrics creatively penned by acclaimed songwriter and Butler’s long-time friend Diane Warren, released as single on March 18, 2022 (Loudwire.com).
As musicians clearly in tune with one another, and demonstrate a clear trust in one another to do worthy by each other’s music, as exemplified by the group’s extensive number of collaborations and performances of each other’s music, it is no surprise that the joint performance of “War Pigs” was just as breathtaking and monumental as every other performance in the past. By playing on orchestral instruments layered on top of those typically associated with the heavy metal genre, Apocalyptica and Geezer Butler’s blended rendition of the rock classic makes the song sound like nothing you’ve ever heard before. With string instruments played on top of the standard drum and bass, Apocalyptica’s orchestral skill is made clear through its solos.
Watch a video of Geezer Butler and Apocalyptica, led by vocalist Franky Perez, performing Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” below.
Watch Apocalyptica’s previous “War Pigs” performance from Oct. 2 in Santa Ana below.
See Geezer Butler join Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach play Black Sabbath’s “Supernaut” during Taylor Hawkins’ tribute concert in L.A. on Sep. 27 here.
Apocalyptica has also recently released a new EP called Metal Classic, Classic Metal. Learn more about it here.
Photo Credit: Aisha Humphrey
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