- Nov 24, 2002
- 14,104
- 156
- 63
- 57
Sentenced swan song is called The Funeral Album and has nothing of funeral in it.
May Today Become The Day: great opener, fast riffing with a neat double bass galloping. A small change at around 2:34 leads to a nice short solo and then back to the song. The song is faster paced than most Sentenced material in the previous albums.
Ever-Frost: in the vein of Blood & Tears but with a tamer chorus. Melodic metal with attitude, like the previous one has a change at around 3:05, with a bit of Middle-Eastern melody on a non-classic solo, then back to the chorus.
We Are But Falling Leaves: mid-paced song. Here the depressive gothic elements of the band are clearer; the solo is passionate and involving. Fans from Down and up will not be disappointed.
Her Last 5 Minutes: here the gothic elements a la Lacuna Coil are more evident (not surprise since the producer is also LC producer), nevertheless the band intersects brief doom passages that make the whole experience a bit progressive with the changes. The instrumental outro also delivers unusual changes that add nicely to the song.
Where Waters Fall Frozen: ultra short (0:59) THRASH instrumental.
Despair-Ridden Hearts: starts with some harmonica (these guys never ceased to amaze me) that melts into the basic melody followed by vocals. Is a mid-paced song but not a ballad, totally melodic and catchy (Im following it with my foot which is a good sign). At 2:10 a fast solo starts, I never paid much attention to Sentenced soloing, but for some reason I found them very good on this last album (sigh), the song then returns at a higher pace all the way to the end.
Vengeance Is Mine: fast paced with anger and energy, reminds me of The Luxury Of A Grave. So far the one I like the most, at 2:15 a nice chorus (female/children?) echoing the solo change a bit the mood, just to return to the angry energetic vocals. Wait til you hear the ending.
A Long Way To Nowhere: more of the winning recipe. Melodic mid/fast pace melody with energetic vocals, a bridge at ~1:50 spices the tune, so boredom is no an option here. Songs are short (this one is 3:27) but so rich that feel the double in length.
Consider Us Dead: Not to rave about, maybe what someone can call a filler. The solo is still interesting.
Lower The Flags: back to the usual suspects with a piano added for the intro. Not very interesting until it hits the chorus, this is a bit more exciting than the rest of the song. Another one that feels like a filler.
Drain Me: this one has a much better start, the riff grabbed me instantly. The chorus is very catchy too (Drain me my darling, drain me my darling), and the change to the (again) short solo well designed.
Karu: short (1:03) acoustic instrumental, ultra simple and yet emotional, youll see.
End Of The Road: the end comes with heaviness (near epic doom) alternating with acoustic and vocals passages. Again a well conceived children chorus gives a really neat atmosphere that develops into a mid-instrumental section very passionate and energetic. Once again I point to the solo, no guitar hero, not the 70s classics solos, but surely much more interesting than many guitar works of today.
So this is the end, Sentenced bids farewell with this album. Not their finest moment, but surely not their dullest either. Theyre going walking tall with an album that surely fits fine in the musical direction they started with Down. I strongly recommend it to fans of the band and to followers of melodic metal.
Sadly for me it means no more Sentenced, I'll miss them surely, one of the nicest bands I discover last year...and now it's gone
May Today Become The Day: great opener, fast riffing with a neat double bass galloping. A small change at around 2:34 leads to a nice short solo and then back to the song. The song is faster paced than most Sentenced material in the previous albums.
Ever-Frost: in the vein of Blood & Tears but with a tamer chorus. Melodic metal with attitude, like the previous one has a change at around 3:05, with a bit of Middle-Eastern melody on a non-classic solo, then back to the chorus.
We Are But Falling Leaves: mid-paced song. Here the depressive gothic elements of the band are clearer; the solo is passionate and involving. Fans from Down and up will not be disappointed.
Her Last 5 Minutes: here the gothic elements a la Lacuna Coil are more evident (not surprise since the producer is also LC producer), nevertheless the band intersects brief doom passages that make the whole experience a bit progressive with the changes. The instrumental outro also delivers unusual changes that add nicely to the song.
Where Waters Fall Frozen: ultra short (0:59) THRASH instrumental.
Despair-Ridden Hearts: starts with some harmonica (these guys never ceased to amaze me) that melts into the basic melody followed by vocals. Is a mid-paced song but not a ballad, totally melodic and catchy (Im following it with my foot which is a good sign). At 2:10 a fast solo starts, I never paid much attention to Sentenced soloing, but for some reason I found them very good on this last album (sigh), the song then returns at a higher pace all the way to the end.
Vengeance Is Mine: fast paced with anger and energy, reminds me of The Luxury Of A Grave. So far the one I like the most, at 2:15 a nice chorus (female/children?) echoing the solo change a bit the mood, just to return to the angry energetic vocals. Wait til you hear the ending.
A Long Way To Nowhere: more of the winning recipe. Melodic mid/fast pace melody with energetic vocals, a bridge at ~1:50 spices the tune, so boredom is no an option here. Songs are short (this one is 3:27) but so rich that feel the double in length.
Consider Us Dead: Not to rave about, maybe what someone can call a filler. The solo is still interesting.
Lower The Flags: back to the usual suspects with a piano added for the intro. Not very interesting until it hits the chorus, this is a bit more exciting than the rest of the song. Another one that feels like a filler.
Drain Me: this one has a much better start, the riff grabbed me instantly. The chorus is very catchy too (Drain me my darling, drain me my darling), and the change to the (again) short solo well designed.
Karu: short (1:03) acoustic instrumental, ultra simple and yet emotional, youll see.
End Of The Road: the end comes with heaviness (near epic doom) alternating with acoustic and vocals passages. Again a well conceived children chorus gives a really neat atmosphere that develops into a mid-instrumental section very passionate and energetic. Once again I point to the solo, no guitar hero, not the 70s classics solos, but surely much more interesting than many guitar works of today.
So this is the end, Sentenced bids farewell with this album. Not their finest moment, but surely not their dullest either. Theyre going walking tall with an album that surely fits fine in the musical direction they started with Down. I strongly recommend it to fans of the band and to followers of melodic metal.
Sadly for me it means no more Sentenced, I'll miss them surely, one of the nicest bands I discover last year...and now it's gone
