Max Lilja

Although first known as a founding member of Finnish neo-classical metal group Apocalyptica, cellist Max Lilja has since put his unconventional spin on other symphonic metal projects, electronic cello music, J.S. Bach, and more. After releasing three albums with Apocalyptica in the mid-'90s through the early 2000s, he joined the like-minded Hevein and played with Nightwish's Tarja Turunen as she pursued a solo career. While continuing to work with Tarja, Lilja went solo himself with 2013's Plays Electronica by One Cello, which he followed with adventurous, part-electronic albums like 2015's Morphosis and 2018's 10 000 Miens. In 2024, Lilja returned to his classical roots with Six Shades of Bach, which took a warped approach to Bach's cello suites with the sparing use of components like keyboards and effects. Born on October 27, 1975 in Vantaa, Finland, Max Fedi Tapani Lilja had switched from violin to cello by the age seven. At nine, he enrolled in the junior division at Helsinki's Sibelius Academy, where he studied with Panu Saari. In 1993, he entered the Academy's university-level program, studying with Arto Noras and Raimo Sariola. It was during this time that he began playing covers of Metallica songs with other future members of Apocalyptica. He was principal chair in the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra in 1995, the same year Apocalyptica -- Lilja and cellists Paavo Lötjönen, Antero Manninen, and Eicca Toppinen -- played their first gig at a rock club. Within a year, they had signed with the Zen Garden label and released the album Plays Metallica by Four Cellos. As their popularity spread worldwide, Lilja dropped out of the Sibelius Academy in 1997 because of touring demands. Lilja stayed with the group through the recording and touring cycles of two more albums, 1998's Inquisition Symphony and 2000's Cult, before parting ways with Apocalyptica in 2002, when he joined another symphonic metal band, Hevein. Although Hevein had been around in various forms for a decade or so, he joined in time to appear on their debut album, Sound Over Matter, released on Spinefarm Records in 2005. As Hevein stalled and started up again in spurts, Lilja began performing with Tarja, aka Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen, in 2007. He made his first appearance on one of her albums with 2010's What Lies Beneath, her third solo effort. While continuing in his role as a sideman for Tarja, Lilja launched a solo career of his own with the release of the aptly titled Plays Electronica by One Cello in 2013. While that album was self-released, he signed with U.S. experimental-music label Fluttery Records for the delivery of the electronics-minded Morphosis in 2015. In the meantime, he was involved with the recording of the Tarja albums Colours in the Dark (2013) and The Shadow Self (2016). His third solo album, 10 000 Miens, was again self-released in 2018. It created a wide spectrum of sounds using cello as the only source. In 2020, Lilja provided the score for a radio play version of William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist in addition to contributing to the soundtrack of the video game Othercide. When Lilja finally returned to his more formal classical roots, it was in an untraditional way, with Six Shades of Bach. While keeping the cello front and center, it offered a unique take on Johan Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites by playing with the surrounding spaces. Released in 2024, it marked his debut on the Pentatone label.
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