Sentenced - The Cold White Light

*=Staff's pick	Konevitsan Kirkonkellot Cross My Heart And Hope To Die* Brief Is The Light* Neverlasting Aika Multaa Muistot (Everything Is Nothing)* Excuse Me While I Kill Myself Blood & Tears You Are The One Guilt and Regret The Luxury Of A Grave No One There

Genre	Heavy/Gothic Metal	Ville Laihiala	Vocals
Tracks	11	Miika Tenkula	Guitar
Runningtime	46 Min.	Sami Lopakka	Guitar
Label	Century Media	Sami Kukkohovi	Bass
Release	13 May 2002	Vesa Ranta	Drums
Country	Finland	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Tiamat

I must say that my knowledge in Sentenced's mid-90's work are not one of my strongest.
I followed them in the beginning of their career around 1993-1995 when they still played death metal - and played it good if you ask me.
They have recieved better and better critics for their compositions and musical turns all along their journey up til today, and today practically nothing remains of the former band.
I can't help to comment on the typical melancholic mood that finnish bands manage to produce in their music and lyrics.
I don't know how they do it, but they sure do it good.

Whereas the latest album Crimson felt uninteresting and had pretty dull arrangements, this album is projecting a newborn energy within the band, and the whole cd feels soild with overall very good tracks.
There is depth and power behind the riffs, and it's all clad in an aura of atmospheric feelings - often quite dark, sometimes a bit more lighter - and are being driven forward steadily by the pounding and groovy drums.
The guitars make a very good soundpicture, whereas the leads and hooks are catchy and intelligent, and fit well to the thick wall of rythmguitars that pounds it way through the album.

This is a very varied album, but they are sticking to the road of metal without getting too spaced out. There are a few sections of clean vocals, piano, narrations and equal, but it's done with modesty and perfection.
With engaging and catchy, but yet very heavy riffs they build up a certain mood in the songs and the fact that several tracks has refrains that sticks like glue, you can imagine that this is a Sentenced that confirm their place as one of the topbands in this genre.
It sounds like the members are confident in what they do, and

Songs worth to mention are the three openers that all has a strong hitfeeling over them, and Neverlasting beeing the better one, since it's a real killer that probe it's way in your brain with that groovy riff and verseline, and I can name at least 2-3 more that are really one of the better songs they have composed so far.
There are a couple of tracks that tend to feel a bit too flat, and not getting that real hold of you, but overall the albums is strong enough to earn this grade, and I have a strong feeling that it's an album that will grow very much in the future.

This is music that moves around the borders of what in the heavier areas that are being played on Mtv daily, but it stays enough within the realms of metal for me to like it - and that very much actually.

This I recommend to existing fans of Sentenced - you are in for a real treat - and to people from all kinds of metalcamps, actually: the people that like the driven, double bassdrum tracks with catchy choruses, and to the ones that are more into the softer kind of "almost-metal".

Not many bands can make music like this and get away with it - but Sentenced can.
And they do it with the honours.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8,5	8	8,5

Summary
8,5 chalices of 10 - Tommy