“Torcha!” – the iconic second album that catapulted Finnish crossover metal legends WALTARI to stardom, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in grand style on September 9th, 2023, as the original lineup of the band, including frontman and bassist/singer Kärtsy Hatakka, guitarists Jariot Lehtinen and Sami Yli-Sirnö, and drummer Janne Parviainen, reunited for a monumental performance at G-Livelab, Helsinki. Naturally, we set out to see how the band keeps up with the groovy energy of their youth.
While Hatakka and Lehtinen have been household names in WALTARI, Parviainen and Yli-Sirnö have been playing in other bands such as ENSIFERUM and KREATOR. The band seemed to have no trouble finding a tone together and the playing flowed nicely from the start. Naturally, age has made its mark on the band’s live act and the focus was more on playing than on jumping and running around the stage – although there was some of that as well!
G Livelab usually hosts concerts for a seated crowd and the low stage made it less than ideal surroundings for a standing audience and a rock show. From the back rows, not much could be seen and the audience packed close to the stage and even to the open side, where of course, one can’t really enjoy the high quality of audio that G Livelab is all about. The band tried on occasion to suggest the front row sit down to let the back row see some of the concert but as the crowd did not seem eager to react, the show went on.
Gladly, WALTARI‘s performance was solid. They were able to pump some nice rhythms into their groove metal pieces, made the audience dance to the MADONNA cover classic “Vogue,” and all-in-all showcased the versatility they’ve become known for. From rap to piano ballads to aggressive metal, WALTARI have never been shy to try out different approaches and they are able to put their own signature on whatever they take on.
A reunion concert like this is, of course, most meaningful to those who have experienced the original thing, but it was nice to see quite a lot of younger faces in the audience as well. Younger souls were probably attending the early evening’s age-limitless concert. Now, how many old metal bands have an audience of minors to put up a show for? WALTAR seems to be not out of date even thirty-plus years after “Torcha!“
Photos by Arto Alho
