Artist description High-speed technical workouts, rife with melody.

Music Style Dark themes, extreme metal

Artist History It need not really be said that Sentenced bear little resemblance to the original incarnation formed years ago in northern Finland. If they did, it's doubtful you'd be perusing this biography for additional information, as the band would be clamoring for shelf space in the "outdated extreme metal" section of the local shop. But shortly after releasing their debut record Shadows Of The Past on the now-defunct label Thrash Records, the quartet knew they would quickly need evolve in order to stay one step ahead of the generic hordes plying their wares into 4-track machines around the world. Thus they enlisted the services of a new vocalist and bassist named Taneli Jarva, and from the recording of their next album North From Here in late 1992 (for the Finnish label Spinefarm), the spiral staircase appeared that would lift them out of death metal doldrums. The high-speed technical workouts of that record, rife with melody, made Sentenced one of the more interesting and listenable records of its time. They also released a four-song EP later that year, The Trooper, and by that time they were often being grouped into the Gothernburg, Sweden sound despite geographical and musical differences. Once again, it was time to move on to something new. Century Media came into the band's present, signing them for a worldwide deal and re-releasing their first two records. Thus, Amok was conceived at the tail end of 1994, and it was the record that would herald their dramatic breakthrough. The complaints of close-minded fans about the band's refusal to perpetually exist in breakneck tempos and open E-chords was drowned out in the sea of approval from those who became ensnared in their deft musical web. A five-song EP, Love And Death, which perfectly complemented a high-profile European tour supporting Tiamat. Earlier this year, the band were disappointed to learn that Jarva would not be able to continue within the band -- their increased success and demands upon his time were simply too much of a burden (he also spent time as the recording bassist for Impaled Nazarene), and thus he quit both bands. However, they wasted no time naming a new replacement, but the musical braintrust behind the band remains the same, and Laihiala adds a distinctly dramatic element to their impassioned work. The new union have continued to show their unwillingness to stagnate, moving forth assuredly as they lay bold brushstrokes upon the musical canvas that is Down. Produced by Grip, Inc. guitarist Waldemar Sorychta (whose reputation and demand is solidified with each passing record) and featuring some backing vocals from Samael vocalist Vorphalack and Birgit Zacher (who has lent assistance to Moonspell and Tiamat), Down is yet another chapter in a novel whose ending has yet to be revealed. But it is necessary to continue turning the pages as the plot continues to thicken...

Group Members Ville Laihiala - bass/vocals Miika Tenkula - lead guitars Sami Lopakka - guitars Vesa Ranta - drums

Albums Frozen, Story - A Recollection (+ Trooper EP), Down, Love and Death, Amok, North From Here, Shadows of the Past

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