Sentenced: Down

Features: Miika Tenkula, Sami Lopakka, Ville Laihiala, Vesa Ranta, Siggi Bemm, Waldemar Sorychta, Birgit Zacher, Vorph

Band: Sentenced Album: II Tracklist:

1. The Gate
2. Noose (!)
3. Shadegrown
4. Bleed
5. Keep My Grave Open
6. Crumbling Down (Give up Hope)
7. Sun Won't Shine (!!)
8. Ode To The End
9. 0132
10. Warrior of Life (Reaper Redeemer)
11. I'll Throw The First Rock

(The ! marks the best songs on the album, some might have more than one)

With noose around my neck...

To start with, one has to realize the period when this album came out. The year is 1996, and Sentenced had grown from a rather boring Black Metal act into a viable melodic British influenced metal act. However, the vocals of Taneli Jarva were not exactly the height of dynamics, and kept the music firmly in underground. With the previous album Amok the band had produced a truly good album (for that time) and the band was ready to start conquering the world, but then Taneli Jarva left the group.

So, understandably, people were rather curious who this new vocalist Ville Laihiala was and what the band would sound like on their new record.

In a few words: Whether or not they would suck.

Down is a lot more melodic and stronger album than the previous Amok and Ville Laihiala's vocals are certainly a lot more depressing than the croaks of Taneli Jarva. His vocals are not graced with too much variety, but they fit the music perfectly.

Not so surprisingly, Waldemar Sorychta added some minor keyboards to the music, adding further dynamics to the sound. This was rather rare at the time, and thus bears mentioning.

The music itself is rather typical Scandinavian metal with melodies leading the music, and a somber (melancholic) mood permeating the whole record. These days the music doesn't shatter any genres, but for those who enjoy melodic metal this album is indeed in my opinion one of the best that Sentenced have produced. It's both archetypically Sentenced and still perhaps the most raw of their records.

For certain, this album has more blastbeat than any other record, after Down, which alone gives some reason to check out the album.

Waldemar Sorychta's influences are easily spotted, as the soundscape is typical for the era of metal, and the keyboards are near identical with Tiamat's recordings of the day (Clouds, Wildhoney, on which Waldemar Sorychta also worked), as such, I cannot but enjoy the soundscape. Both for nostalgic reasons, and pure enjoyment.

Definitely one of my "old school" favorites, and a firm member of my Best of 1996 list.