Sentenced was formed in Oulu, Finland, back in 1989. The founding members were Miika Tenkula, Sami Lopakka and Vesa Ranta. At this point in time Sentenced were playing pure European death metal. Their first demo entitled "When death joins us? (1990) saw the light of day early next year. Soon after the recordings of the first demo, the band also enlisted the services of a new vocalist and bass-player named Taneli Jarva. Not long after Sentenced signed a record deal with a small French label, which released their debut album entitled "Shadows of the past" in 1991.
For their next album "North from here" (1993) Sentenced changed labels to the more well renowned Finnish company, Spinefarm records. Their music now taking a turn from the traditional sounding death metal to a more technical style, leaning towards the kind of melodic death metal nowadays known as the Gothenburg-style. Later the same year Sentenced also released a MCD called "The Trooper" (1993), which included a now classic cover of Iron Maidens 1983 hit song "The trooper". This was to be their last release for Spinefarm.
In 1994 Sentenced once again decided to change labels. This time they signed a deal, which would prove very profitable for both parties. The German record company Century Media signed Sentenced for a worldwide record deal, and also decided to re-release their first two records. The first Century Media release "Amok" (1994) was to be their definitive break-through with over 35,000 copies sold worldwide. Once again determined to explore new grounds, Sentenceds music moved towards the more melodic and down-tempo with 9 amazing songs of pure emotional despair, while still remaining true to their death metal roots. Early the next year they released their second MCD entitled "Love & death" (1995).
In 1996 when Sentenced seemed to be at their absolute peak, fans were disappointed to hear of the departure of vocalist/bassist Taneli Jarva. The official reasons for this was that Taneli felt Sentenceds success as being too much of a burden. The band wasted no time replacing Taneli with new vocalist, Ville Laihiala. Sentenceds fourth full-length album "Down" (1996) was spawned at Woodhouse studios during the autumn the very same year. Switching from Taneli Jarva, who had a praised deep growling voice, to the more clean singing Laihiala was a dangerous task, but once again Sentenced came out victorious. The "Down" album gained great reviews in music-magazines all over the world, and was named Album of the month in German magazines such as Rock Hard and Metal Hammer. 1996 and the following year, saw Sentenced on a worldwide success crusade, with tours of Europe, North America and Japan.
In May 1998 Sentenced began the recordings of the "Down" follow-up. Once again working with Waldemar Sorychta at the Woodhouse studio in Germany. The 1998 release "Frozen", saw the band musically staying on the path they had taken with "Down", with the harshness and despair of the lyrics as always being consistent with the music.
At the dawn of the new millennium Sentenced spawned their 6th fullenght masterpiece "Crimson". It went straight to the top of the Finnish album charts. World wide tours and lots of drinking will follow!
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