Customer Reviews

Amok / Love & Death

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

4.5 stars. The production is great, the musicianship is refreshingly vital, and the songwriting is excellent. Even the EP "Love n Death" is exceptional, which is unusual considering that most EPs never reach the level of the main album. There are many sound samples laced throughout the album adding an epic grandeur to the overall feel. The lead and rhythm guitars shine on this CD, so if you like melodic/intricate guitar with variation in tempo, this is the CD for you. If you love great guitar, buy this album now!

This is one of those albums who would need a push forward! The band's milestone by far...but that's not all! AMOK deserves more space among the best metal/death album ever. Put it on your player and let it flow into your ears and brain..."The War Ain't Over!" is one of the best opener in metal music. It's so classically metal and then, all of a sudden, Taneli Jarva breaks in with his growling/melodical vocals. His lines and interpretation really give strenght to the songs! Of course his not a hell of a singer, definitely not in Dickinson, Tate or Kiske vein...but at the same time not as rough as Cavalera and C. His style's more into "deep vocals" but 100% understandable and most of all you can feel he's singing with passion! Music is never too fast, I mean is more heavy than death metal, but very powerfull anyway! PHENIX, FOREVER LOST and NEPENTHE just to name the best songs...but the whole albums just flow away and you would need more and more...Unfortunately Sentenced decided for a line-up change for the up-coming recordings and in "Down" there's no Jarva anymore as their former drummer was put in front of the mike!!! "Down" is a very good album...but just the biginning of the end in my opinion (Mr.Ranta cannot sing...)...you want more Sentenced material...look for "Love & Death" pals!
As far as I'm concerned the band does not exist anymore...what a lost for metal music!

'Amok' is the Scandinavian metal band's third effort.Their music had reportedly undergone some changes,because on 'Amok',they appear to be straight ahead rock&roll.Which,in this case is a good thing.Cuts like "The War Ain't Over","Forever Lost","Dance On The Graves" and "Golden Stream" show you what these guys are fully capable of.The playing and song arrangements are actually quite decent.Might appeal to fans of Hammerfall,Children Of Bodom,Nevermore and maybe Iced Earth.

Talk about money well spent. Here you get 2 albums for the price of one. Anyway its a totaly awesome and infectious album that will be glued to you CD player for eternity. Musicaly you have heavy iron maiden like riffs and death-doom like vocals from singer bassist Taneli Jarva. The energy is unreal and the songwriting didn't bog down in the depressive suicide style that started on the later Sentenced albums. The Love & Death EP included is a real bonus as it serves as an extension the Amok and it is pretty darn good....

I can't belive this cd hasn't more reviews written. this is the milestone of sentenced's career, when they departed from their caothic death-black metal sound, and incorporeted the NWOBHM feeling and structure to their music. the cd begins with the effects of a battle field, and then a bomb falls from the sky and exploited as the same time of the cresendo of the "war ain't over" song... for me one of the most spectacular intros in the history of metal!!!!!!, then every song is just perfect, but for me stands out "funeral spring"...is just breathtaking, with the wuah pedal efect of the bass guitar (taneli jarva is not only a great singer with his growlish death vocals, but an excellent bass player) you have to love this song. one of the best and most killer cd in my collection.

This is the best extreme metal album of its era. The constant lead work of Miika Tenkula steals the show, leaving the listener longing to hear what else went on. On first listen, this album is largely dismissable-- but such is the beauty of "Amok." Taneli Jarva's vocals go a long way to living up to the epitome of death vocals, and the drumming of Vesa Ranta is flawless. One thing only need be said about the rhythm guitar of Sami Lopakka-- he can hold his own against the godly Dave Mustaine on the latter's best days-- a huge compliment indeed. The band proclaims "Love it or hate it" boldly in the album's liner notes-- and I have done both. Fortnately, however, the love supplanted the hatred quickly and permanently-- this is one of my top ten of all time!

This is probably Sentenced's most diverse album. They are kind of all over the map with their songs but it somehow ties together nicely. The lyrics range from excellent to embarassing, but even the bad ones are fun to sing along with so no real gripes there. I love the guitar gallops and the twin harmony leads.

The song "New Age Messiah" is THE standout, a song I can't get enough of. Although it's built around a pedal-tone riff that could have come from Motley Crue, they develop and build it into a torturous, violent, apocalyptic climax. "The War Ain't Over" has equally violent lyrics. Nepenthe is a good, balladish song reminiscent of some Queensryche, and a harbinger of the more lush sound that later Sentenced albums showed. The slow "Funeral Spring" with it's wah-wah stomp owes a big debt to Cathedral and/or Black Sabbath.

Like I said, this covers a lot of ground. If you like metal, there's something on here for you, and it doesn't harp on the same gloomy subjects the way their later albums do, so it's more interesting to listen to.

One of the best death bands and very talented album