The band is currently composed of three classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso.

[6] A cello quartet, Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, Max Lilja, and Antero Manninen formed Apocalyptica in 1993 at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland.

[citation needed] Apocalyptica released their fourth studio album, Reflections, in 2003, containing only original songs.

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 from the stage.

In November 2008, Apocalyptica featuring Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace hit first at the BDS and Mediabase Active Rock radio charts with the single "I Don't Care".

Later that month, the band ranked 3rd on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Track chart and 2nd on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart just after AC/DC and just ahead of Metallica, an ironic twist since the band's origins lie in performing Metallica covers.

The song "I Don't Care" was also featured in the 16th episode of Season 8 of the TV series Smallville, which aired on 19 March 2009.

"Bring Them to Light" features Joseph Duplantier, singer and guitarist from the French death metal band Gojira.

[12] "Not Strong Enough" was re-recorded with Doug Robb of Hoobastank before being released to US radio on 18 January 2011 due to distribution rights.

With the shutdown, the band (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release their future material on the RCA Records brand.

The band released an exclusive pledgers-only song "Solo Tu" featuring Erik Canales of Allison via fan-funding website Pledgemusic, as part of their Apocalyptica photo book project on 28 October 2011.

[21] Their eighth studio album, titled Shadowmaker, with Franky Perez singing on all vocal tracks, was released through Better Noise imprint of Eleven Seven Music on 17 April 2015.

[23] Apocalyptica made the music for the episode On Finn Ice of Rovio Entertainment's video game Angry Birds Seasons.

Apocalyptica celebrated their 20th anniversary of the first album Plays Metallica by Four Cellos in 2016 and it was re-released with 3 brand new bonus tracks.

On 15 December 2023, Apocalyptica released a new song and video called "What We're Up Against", featuring Elize Ryd of Amaranthe.

[26] It also includes a cover of The Call of Ktulu featuring the original bass master track recorded by Cliff Burton in 1984.