WALTARI
Waltari – 3rd Decade – Anniversary Edition

Space. The final frontier.For Waltari, this space has always been music –galaxies of sound beyond tropes and trends –and in 2021, the Finish groundbreakers are celebrating the 30thanniversary of their very first space journey in true style.This means that even though a best-of compilation might be in order on such an occasion, Waltari would not be themselves if they hadn ́t cooked up something special. “We noticed that 30 years have passed since Monk-Punk”, co-founder and leader Kärtsy Hatakka says. “Therefore, we considered acknowledging this with several exclusive concerts, but then the virus came, so we thought we ́d do a record with some unusual guests.”And unusual the album turns out to be: For 3rd Decade –The Anniversary Edition, the group revisited material from all their creative phases, choosing some of their finest songs to give them an overhaul with the help of like-minded musicians from every stripe, be it Sami yoik duo Angelit or electro hip hop stars Bomfunk MC ́s, German industrial pioneer Jürgen Engler from Die Krupps or other countrymen of their own such as former Nightwish bass player and vocalist Marko Hietala, humppa legends Eläkeläiset as well as Korpiklaani front man Jonne, The 69 Eyes singer Jyrki, Mr. Lordi himself and his band plus members from Amberian Dawn, HanoiRocks, Negative and Beast In Black.“Remaking the old hits gave me a kick”, Kärtsy explains. “It was actually the first time ever that I could step back and just watch what people did while giving directions, a refreshing experience. This is definitely not my personal baby but a collective effort, I didn ́t do much more than play bass, sing a few lines and program things.” Indeed, Waltari let their guests shine instead of stepping into the spotlight themselves. “We asked them what they envisioned for the respective tracks and wanted them to let their imagination wander. Our attitude was: We are at your service as backing musicians. It was nice to see how they interpreted the songs.”Afraid of nothing but stagnation, the band once again proves that it can still live up to the original crossover ethos at any time, experimenting and finding new alleys to sneak into, all the while honouring its legacy with one eye looking ahead into an exciting future. “We have re-established our old fan club in digital form and are planning to put out some so-far unreleased recordings throughout the next years while scrolling through our back catalogue, so you ́ll soon get to listen to demos from Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die!, for example. There ́s much more to come!”Speaking of this so-titled Death Metal Symphony in Deep C, the band also fused heavy stuff with classical music in other projects such as Evankeliumi, a composition for renowned dancer Jorma Uotinen, or Symposion, which was inspired by the works of famous painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela, all underlining the fact that for Waltari, there are really no boundaries at all between the arts.As the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist stresses, “rock is an attitude, an unquenched thirst to remain playful with life till the very end! Istill find it cool to put on my make-up and be an outcast. Our goal is to create music that will blow the minds of our listeners.” Since this music –that space –has always been an ongoing adventure into which Hatakka threw himself with childlike abandon, after the 3rdDecade,a fourth is sure to begin, and who knows how many more will follow?By now, the veterans have seen several of their tunes hit the charts and performed at any place where there was an electrical outlet, whether venues small and big or festival stages, so it seems clear that they are chomping at the bit to start another album-tour cycle. “I composed a lot during the pandemic”, Kärtsy concludes, “so the next two Waltari albums are basically lying around here ready to be recorded...”