A former cellist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the contemporary chamber orchestra Avanti!, Toppinen is also a composer and songwriter as well as co-founder of Apocalyptica, an all-cello ensemble that started as a Metallica cover band in the mid-1990s before evolving into a full-blown rock group in its own right (and becoming the first Finnish band to top the US charts).

All of which made Toppinen the perfect frontman for “Bright and Black”, a programme presented by the Hong Kong Arts Festival bringing together the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, a multinational ensemble comprising musicians from various Nordic countries, with a roster of Scandinavian metalheads writing music of genuinely symphonic scope.

Originally conceived with Toppinen’s producer Jacob Hellner (who is also credited as co-composer of several pieces) and led by the ensemble’s founding music director Kristjan Järvi, “Bright & Black” was first released as an album in January. Plans are afoot to branch into other media, including a video game.

The performance at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre followed the album’s programme order to the letter.

What gives “Bright & Black” its distinct credibility is, first of all, the pedigree of the creators involved. Throughout Scandinavia and the Baltics, musicians are likely to have similar musical training regardless of their chosen style (Toppinen himself attended Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy).

A similar emotional state permeates disparate musical genres – even upbeat moments are often tinged with a bit of melancholy, if not outright despair, which surely inspired the project’s title.

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“Bright & Black” was neither a negotiation between different musical styles, like Metallica’s collaborations with the San Francisco Symphony, nor an attempt to mimic rock’s noise aesthetic with acoustic instruments, as in works by composers like Elliott Sharp and John Zorn. None of its 12 pieces, in fact, employs electric distortion.

Fredrik Akesson’s Nidhugg set the tone right from the opening, with arpeggiated notes moving from the cellos and basses to the higher strings before being heard as a full sonic wall – in this case, “metal” referring to the brass section.

Nico Elgstrand’s Bloodgrind, which immediately followed, unleashed its pounding percussion to reveal one of the evening’s recurring drawbacks: while four orchestral percussionists can certainly exceed the volume of one rock drummer, they lack a single player’s precision, which ends up diffusing the intensity of their playing.

Järvi did his part to keep the show alive, working the crowd between breaks like at a standard-issue rock concert. In leading his 40-piece ensemble, the conductor forsook the podium and baton for a frame drum, which he regularly beat above his shoulders – probably the only way his beat could remain in sight of the musicians, all of whom except the cellists and two double bassists played while standing.

The evening came to a close with a piece entitled, appropriately enough, End of All (credited to Jacob Hellner and Lizzie Zachrisson Hellner), with an opening string riff reminiscent of Pachelbel’s Canon in D laying the accompaniment for Toppinen’s lyrical cello lines.

Although the evening’s works (none lasting more than 10 minutes) varied in musical quality and skill of orchestration, they were consistent – like the best cinematic scores – in efficiently establishing and sustaining an emotional mood.

When this collection finally becomes a video game, the music will probably find its rightful home.

“Bright & Black”, Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Reviewed: March 14.