Artist: Sentenced
Title: “Buried Alive”
Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: 1/23/2007
Genre: Gothic Metal
Rating: 4/5
I admit that it seem as though we are overrun by live concert recordings these days and while some of them are incredible efforts that bring the show right to your home there are few like this particular release by the band Sentenced. The reason for my view on this is based on the fact that this album not only captures a killer live concert from the legendary Gothic Metal group, but their very last performance as a band ever. That alone makes it something a little more important as this is more a historic performance than anything else and a release like this are few and far between. Formed in 1989, Sentenced chose to call it a career in 2005 with their final studio recording “The Funeral Album” – this was the bands public suicide note and a truly impressive album. This CD release comes to fans at the same time as a DVD film from the same performance which is just loaded with bonus features that make it the more worthwhile purchase if you ask me. The concert in audio alone is wonderful to have mainly if you are not quite moved by videos of these things and don’t really need to see what happened.
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Artist: Sentenced
Title: “Buried Alive”
Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: 1/23/2007
Genre: Gothic Metal
Rating: 4/5
May I please ask all of you to take your seats so we may commence. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with a great amount of sadness and despair that I speak to you from the heart about our gathering here on this sad day October 1, 2005. Today we come together as fans and friends to offer some well-deserved tributes to the band Sentenced. The group has tragically and not too quietly ended their life in the same manner in which they lived it – on the concert stage among their most ardent and supportive fans. Yes, this DVD release that bears the same name as the CD concert issue gives the viewers the final live performance of the band Sentenced – ever! The group decided to call it a career with their last release “The Funeral Album” which was a powerful Gothic Metal CD issued in early 2005. Their musical “suicide note” came after sixteen years as a group and essentially at the mass decision that all that they could do in this band, had been done. Filmed in their native Finland, at the club Teatria, there are hours of material with the concert and the heaping amount of bonus features for the viewer to enjoy. The concert segment on DVD1 features the full final performance which runs just over two hours. It is very dramatically shot and it includes a strong selection from “The Funeral Album” along with the rest of the bands back catalog. Their singer Ville Laihiala is showcased very prominently and it was during his tenure that the group changed in style from their original sound of Melodic Death Metal to a more brooding Gothic Metal.
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Artist: Sentenced
Title: “The Funeral Album”
Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: 5/31/2005
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 8/10
Sentenced is dead and it is my task to bring you this solemn news. It seems that after 14 years the five members of this Finnish band have made the command decision and decided to end the bands existence. “The Funeral Album” released on Century Media Records is the closest thing to a suicide note that investigators could find. As original fans will remember, Sentenced was known for blazing Death/Black Metal but several years ago switched gears and took on a more Traditional & Gothic mannerism to their performance and style. This release continues along those lines, and this is fine with me since it shows how diverse bands have proven themselves to be over time. Amorphis recently delivered a similar thing to their fans with “Far From The Sun” as the record was not what their normal fan base had expected either. “The Funeral Album” is full of tracks that signify the ending of ones life and while morose as a topic, most of these tracks are excellent. Very moody and dark and yet poignant more often than they are not. The titles use cryptic metaphors such as “We Are Falling Leaves”, or “Lower The Flags” and “End Of The Road” just by reading them you kind of knows what the band is getting at.
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