Band:	Waltari
Album:	Release Date
Style:	Alternative metal, Avantgarde metal, Progressive thrash metal
Release date:	February 26, 2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. Get Stamped
02. Big Sleep
03. Let's Puke Together
04. Cityshamaani
    1 - Night Flight
    2 - Good Morning
    3 - Colgate County Showdown
    4 - The Incarnation Party
    5 - Sympathy
05. Hype
06. THD
07. Sex In The Biergarten
08. Wish I Could Heal
09. Spokebone

When we talk about originality, only one name must come to your mind, Waltari. Two years after their previous release, the excellent "Blood Sample", our Finnish Crazy Metalers are back with their new album "Release Date". And as always with this Finnish band, it's extremely hard to categorize their music. Between Thrash, Funk, Heay, Prog, Electro and even Hip Hop or Brutal Death, the new Waltari is a real musical UFO. That's right, this is probably a real "hate or love" album but damn at least it's super original, fresh and surprising.

I still can't understand why Waltari is not so famous. They were one of the first Metal bands from Finland and really they found the way to create something new and built a really unique sound. Maybe that they're just so atypical for the basic Metalheads that it's a bit hard for them to fall in love with their music but it's a bit sad really, because with a bit of tolerance and if you're just a bit open minded it just works believe me!

"Release Date" is crazy and full of "fun" really. The band wrote a lot of different and atypical songs and one more time it's a real pleasure to listen to their music. Why? Well, because it's just different, it's mega original and nobody else is able to produce this kind of sound. Can you give me a band which mixes Thrash and Techno? Or Hard Rock and Indus or Hip Hop and Death Metal with some Heavy touches? I don't know a lot of bands which knows how to do that but Waltari manages to do it perfectly.

On the other hand the main problem of this kind of album is that the band goes in a dozen of directions and sometime it's a bit hard to follow them. This lack of "organisation" is obviously a wish but it's probably the point which is scary for a lot of potential fans. "Release Date", even if the album is perfectly produced, will maybe be a bit tricky for some of you and if you're already scared by Progressive stuff, this one will probably a real nightmare for you (but damn, I like it lol).

"Release Date" follows the steps of "Blood Sample" without being so easy of access than the previous release and probably a bit less catchy (in two words, it's not better). But it doesn't mean that the album is bad, at the opposite! Just remember that this album is one of the most original release of the year, be a bit open minded and I'm sure that you'll like it and that maybe, you'll become a new fan of the Finnish combo. With this new release Waltari proves one more time that they are one of the most atypical bands of the Metal scene.