The crazy metal rockers from Waltari release yet another compilation, The 2nd Decade- In the Cradle, their third collection in 10 years. It covers what they consider to be the best material since their 2000 album Channel Nordica. Next to the ten tracks, we are treated with an extra unplugged session from May 2008. Waltari is one of the most interesting Finnish bands there are. But is this one of the most interesting compilations there are?

Listening to The 2nd Decade it sounds like they had a bit of a job finding enough tracks. Opener 'In the Cradle' is from an upcoming new Waltari album. It has a feel redolent of
Nightwish with male vocals with a poppy edge to it. The next song ‘Get Stamped’, whose original version can be found on their oddly titled Release Date album, has that classical metal feel but is larded with dance music sounds. Waltari knows how to create a perfect marriage between two styles. A fact that has made them immensely popular in their homeland of Finland as well in the international metal scene. Because of their open-minded approach to music they were never afraid to include influences most metal bands wouldn’t dream of. This attitude is clearly presented in a song like ‘Helsinki'. Partly sung in Finnish, sounds like latter day Beatles playing metal whilst being heavily influenced by gothic bands.

Normally a compilation album is a hotchpotch of different eras. This makes usually for a quite disjointed-sounding listen. Remarkably it sounds like a regular album. So what answer do I have for the question: is this one of the most interesting compilations there are? Well, yes indeed. It is a good starting point for those who're just getting familiar with Waltari. I don’t give a score for this though, it still is just a compilation.