Waltari

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amed for the Finnish author Mika Waltari, this quirky hard rock/heavy metal band has been around since 1986 (although originally named The Waltari, and are still going strong after more than twenty years in the business. By all accounts Waltari is all over the map musically, tending to mutate and change course from one album to another, starting off with the Waltari EP (1988) under the membership of Jari (Full Name: Jariot Lehtinen; guitars/mandolin), Kartsy Hatakka (vocals/bass) and Sale Suomalainen (drums).

Mut hei (EP; 1990) would follow before the arrival of their first full length, Monk-Punk (1991) now with Sami (Full Name: Sami Yli-Sirniö; guitars/vocals (backing)/melodica) and Janne (Full Name: Janne Olavi Parviainen; drums/percussion), Torcha! (1992) and Aika tuulee (EP; 1992) followed.

So Fine! (1994), Big Bang (1995), Yeah! Yeah! Die! Die! - Death Metal Symphony in Deep C (1996), Space Avenue (1997), Radium Round (1999) and Back to Persepolis (EP; 2001) followed before the next line-up change in the form of Mika Järveläinen taking drums for Rare Species (2004).

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