Sentenced

Subscribing to the "go down in flames” philosophy, Sentenced is calling it quits with 50 solid minutes of wrist-slitting rock’n’ roll. Characteristically drenched in negativity, The Funeral Album is destined to be Sentenced’s last, and as such, the record offers no sudden changes in direction; it’s more a logical culmination of the suicide rock style the band has been pursuing since 1996’s Down. The Funeral Album has the requisite all-out rockers (single "Ever-Frost,” for example), slower ballads (like "We Are But Falling Leaves”) and pretty much everything in between. And titles like "Consider Us Dead” and "End of the Road” capture Sentenced’s over-the-top but tongue-in-cheek pessimism as well as describing the status of the band itself. If there is any surprise on this farewell lament, it might be the extreme metal interlude ("Where Waters Fall Frozen”), reminding us of Sentenced’s death metal past. The Funeral Album isn’t an attempt to relive earlier glory days and it’s not about proving a point — this is simply one last rousing goodbye.