Waltari is a Finnish band that was founded in 1986. In 1991 they recorded their debut album and from that time on the band released an album almost each year, so they are quite a productive band. With Release Date these Finnish boys release a disc full of experimental music, from thrash metal to disco beats, from punk to almost acoustic music. Highlight of the album is without any doubt the 37-minute opus ‘Cityshamaani’; with this song Waltari remind of the good old days of their death metal opera Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die!. Release Date is their most varied and darkest album so far.

The vocals are between real sympho (‘Big Sleep’) and aggressive screaming (‘Let’s Puke Again’, a song with great punk influences). As said above the most interesting song is the opus ‘Cityshamaani’ consisting of five pieces.

It starts with the rather progressive part ‘Night Flight’, with a spacey keyboard solo and an aggressive ending, continued by a three-part varying from guitar rock to a real fast party-metal and ends with a beautiful ballad ‘Sympathy’ of 13 minutes. This last part is one of the best of this album. It has a quiet intro that changes into a superb power ballad and ends with a classical piano.

‘Sex In The Beergarden’ is a song with a disco beat that could have been a part of an Austrian sex movie. Listen for yourself.

You have to listen Release Date several times to get acquainted with Waltari, but I guarantee you it is a lot of fun when you do. Enjoy yourself.