Most of the band's music is written by Kärtsy Hatakka. Finnish metal musicians who started their international career in Waltari include Kreator's Sami Yli-Sirniö, Roope Latvala of Children of Bodom, and Janne Parviainen of Ensiferum.
History
Waltari performing at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki in 2006
Waltari was formed in 1986 in Helsinki by Kärtsy Hatakka (vocals and bass), Jariot Lehtinen (guitars) and Sale Suomalainen (drums). Sami Yli-Sirniö joined as second guitarist in 1989, a year after the release of their first EP, Mut Hei ("But hey!").
Their first album, Monk-Punk, was released in 1991. As the title suggests, this album was mostly punk. Their next album Torcha! (1992) was the album on which Waltari started blending various musical styles.
After releasing a compilation of early work under the title Pala Leipää ("A Piece of Bread") (1993), the band went on to release So Fine! (1994), an album similar to Torcha!. Their next album, Big Bang (1995) mixes techno with heavy metal.
In 1997, the band released Space Avenue, a more progressive work containing more electronic drums, as well as a collaboration with Apocalyptica. In 1998, to celebrate their ten-year anniversary, the band released a compilation titled Decade.
In 1999, Kärtsy Hatakka and Waltari were working on yet another metal/classical collaboration, and this gave rise to the stage show Evangelicum (Evankeliumi). This production differed from Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die! in that it contained music, ballet and a light show. It also featured a new opera singer. The guest vocalist was Tarja Turunen, who was the lead vocalist of the still young band Nightwish. The choreographer was Jorma Uotinen. This show was released in 1999 on DVD. A musical album version of Evankeliumi was not released.
Waltari's next album, Radium Round (1999), featured a strong pop influence. After Radium Round, the band passed out of the public eye, working on less mainstream releases such as the metal / yoik crossover Channel Nordica (2000) and the punk EP Back to Persepolis (2001). However, these releases were very hard to obtain, and for a while Waltari only survived through its live shows. In 2001, the band's old guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö returned, and Roope Latvala left the band.
In 2004, Waltari released an all-new studio album, Rare Species.
The Blood Sample album was released in 2005. In 2006, "Early Years" was released, a double album presenting remastered versions of the first album Monk-Punk and Pala Leipää, containing additional tracks from the 1980s, never released before and recorded in autumn 2005 by the original trio: Jariot, Kärtsy and Sale.
Waltari released the album Release Date in 2007. This album includes bonus track "Spokebone", a collaboration with Amorphis singer Tomi Joutsen and Finnish ethnic band Värttinä.
Their album You are Waltari was released on 27 February 2015. A single, "Digging the Alien", was also released as a music video.[2] There was also a video from the second single, "Only the Truth".
Warmen is a Finnish heavy metal band assembled by keyboardist Janne "Warman" Wirman. Wirman has played with Children of Bodom from 1997 until their disbandment in 2019, and in 2000 created a musical project focused on instrumental work, which would only have guest singers on a few selected songs.
Roope Juhani Latvala is a Finnish guitarist. He is one of the founding members of the thrash metal band Stone, which was one of the first notable bands in the history of Finnish heavy metal. He was also the former rhythm guitarist for the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom from 2003 to 2015 and the co-lead guitarist for Sinergy.
Ruoska is a Finnish metal band from the Juva municipality.
Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die! is the fourth studio album by Finnish band Waltari, combining death metal with classical music. Originally, Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die! was written as a stage show. After the show's premiere performance in 1995 at the Helsinki Music Festival, it was recorded and finally released in May 1996.
Sami Yli-Sirniö is a Finnish musician who is currently the lead guitarist of the German band Kreator and the Finnish metal bands Waltari and Barren Earth. He spent part of his life in Germany and thus has strong ties with the German metal scene. German Rock Hard magazine featured him in 2007 as a "forgotten guitar hero".
Skeletons in the Closet is the second compilation album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released on 22 September 2009 through Spinefarm Records. It consists of various covers of songs, most of which have been released on other releases such as B-sides on Children of Bodom's singles. The album only contains four unreleased covers for the songs "Hell Is for Children", "Antisocial", "War Inside My Head", and "Waiting", but the previously released songs are remixed and new details can be heard. The Japanese edition is pressed in SHM-CD format.
Below Zero is the 10th studio album by the Finnish metal band Waltari. A music video was made for the song "In the Cradle".
Release Date is the ninth studio album by the Finnish avant-garde metal band Waltari.
Blood Sample is the eighth studio album by the Finnish avant-garde metal band Waltari.
Rare Species is the seventh studio album by the Finnish avant-garde metal band Waltari.
Radium Round is the sixth studio album by the Finnish avant-garde metal band Waltari.
Space Avenue is the fifth studio album by the Finnish avant-garde metal band Waltari.
Big Bang is the third studio album by the Finnish avant-garde progressive metal band Waltari, released in 1995.
So Fine! is the first collaboration album between Finnish avant-garde progressive metal band Waltari and Joik group Angelit.
Torcha! is the second studio album by the Finnish avant-garde metal band Waltari.
Monk-Punk is the debut studio album by the Finnish avant-garde metal band Waltari.
Halo of Blood is the eighth studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom. It was released on 7 June 2013 in Europe and 11 June in North America on Nuclear Blast Records. In Japan, the album was released by Marquee Inc. on 29 May 2013. This would be the last album with guitarist Roope Latvala before he was kicked out of the band in May 2015.
Pala Leipää is a compilation of the Finnish metal band Waltari. It was released by Stupido Records in 1993.
Covers All is the 11th album by Finnish heavy metal band Waltari. It is a cover album recorded on the 25th anniversary of Waltari, released in 2011 by Stupido Records label.
You Are Waltari is the 12th album by the Finnish metal band Waltari, released by Rodeostar records in 2015.
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