Worlds Collide is the 6th studio album from Finnish rockers Apocalyptica.  This classically trained group combines building drums, strings with a sense of sadness, and a touch of an Eastern feel to create a part instrumental, part vocal album.  Guest appeareances by vocalists Christina Scabbia(Lacuna Coil), Corey Taylor(Slipknot/Stone Sour), drummer Dave Lombardo(Slayer)and others pepper the tracks both helping and hindering the flow of Worlds Collide.

The divison between the instumental and vocal portion of the album is what keeps it from solidity.  The instrumetal tracks are beautiful compositions short enough to side step being pretentious, but long enough for a listener to expierence the full journey of the track.  They hold a consistant thread which unites them under a theme, while each maintains a uniqueness to avoid redundancy.

On the other hand, the vocal tracks are out of place with the flow of the album and take on their own entity.  Although well composed and executed, these tracks have a delicate vibe that conflicts with the hard hitting thicker sound of the insturmentals.  Of these, “S.O.S. (Anything but Love)” with vocals by Christina Scabbia is the closest fit to meshing with the album on a whole.

Apocalyptica’s Worlds Collide is a sophisticated continuation of their ability to combine classical strings with metal’s speed and dark riffs.  The group pays wonderful attention to layering and pace which shines through on “Grace”, “Stroke”, and “Last Hope”(Dave Lombardo of Slayer). Songs like these show enough of what the group does best to make it worth owning… and creating your own playlist from.