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Sentenced > Shadows of the Past > Reviews
Sentenced - Shadows of the Past

As timeless as its thorny, wintry tombs - 80%

autothrall, January 31st, 2023
Written based on this version: 1991, CD, Century Media Records

Shadows of the Past was not an album I took to immediately, because this was not my first exposure to Sentenced, and in hindsight, it just seemed a lot less unique or interesting than its follow-up. But the funny thing about death metal, and most metal really, if it's written with pure and genuine intentions, it develops a timeless quality about it, and over the years, I've certainly found myself returning to this debut more than I was compelled back in the early 90s. I do not think this was quite as memorable or potent as Slumber of Sullen Eyes, Nespithe, or World Without God, but in its defense, this was earlier than several of those, the death metal genre as a whole was still in its infancy, and there couldn't have been as much compulsion for these early second wave acts to experiment as much as their Floridian or Swedish forebears.

So the Sentenced debut sounds a hell of a lot like Death and Obituary, with a gruff guttural bark that seemed like a more meatier Chuck, but with similar enunciation, and thicker chords that rang out more like the latter, interspersed with the darker tremolo picked patterns of the former. The songs have a very good balance of riffs, some of which take me straight back to Leprosy and Spiritual Healing, but they aren't always immortally catchy as the first time I listened through something like Nespithe. Still, with the thick, competent production values here, and the commitment to old school evil, and the phenomenal cover artwork, Shadows of the Past earns its place in that second string of cult death metal, because it's just one of those efforts that doesn't sound much older today than it did then, and though the influences might be more glaring than a Winter afternoon in Scandinavia, there weren't really that many for them to draw upon at the time.

The drums are great, the churning guitars arguably even better, and Miika Tenkula's vocals were good and gruesome as a hybrid of the two bands I mentioned above. In addition, Taneli Jarva was doing even deeper growls to accompany them, for a cool effect, before he'd take over the microphone on later recordings. The leads are scathing, the atmosphere unabashedly death metal through and through, no chances are taken here but to be honest with you, I'd rather spin this debut over some of the higher profile death metal releases of 1991 like Arise or Blessed Are the Sick, which I always found kind of disappointing in the grander scheme. Sentenced themselves would grow a little wary of this style and shoot for something far more interesting in shorter order, but if you want meat & potatoes death metal from that original era, which holds up 30 years on, this is the total package.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Where there is light, there is also shadow.... - 72%

spookymicha666, January 10th, 2021
Written based on this version: 1991, CD, Thrash Records

Finland in 1992, a number of young black and death metal bands from the land of 1000 lakes are waiting to be discovered by the metal world.Among them are the four boys of Sentenced (among others Taneli Jarva, who at that time is also the bassist of Impaled Nazarene). However, the band is not dedicated to ultra-evil Finnish black metal, but after a short, atmospheric keyboard intro the band starts with old school death-doom metal, which is similar to other Finnish death metal bands that were at work at the time (Demigod, Amorphis or the unfortunately completely underestimated and forgotten Mordicus).On "Shadows of the Past" the singer is not yet Taneli Jarva, who sang the two reference works "North from here" and "Amok", but Miika Tenkula, who died much too early in 2009.

Musically, as I said, old school death metal prevails, whose tempo is sometimes increased, sometimes slides into the death-doom area. From time to time you can hear the guitar leads that would characterize the following albums (especially on "When the Moment of Death Arrives"). "Rot to Dead" starts like a Finnish variant of the first Paradise Lost album, in the middle of the song there is a very fast solo, which makes the song quite varied. But there are also some passages that remind of old Slayer albums. Listen to the beginning of "Disengagement", which reminds me a lot of the chorus of "Tormentor" from the Show No Mercy album. Of course in a death metal version. "The Truth" starts with acoustic guitars that seamlessly transition into a track that is definitely reminiscent of old Carcass in places. The only track that is not really convincing is the bonus track of the CD ("Descending Curtain of Death"). The track is an instrumental metal piece, which is kept very slow and is only spiced up with a spoken word passage, which doesn't fit in at all from a vocal point of view. Personally, I find the song quite boring, because monotonous. But what Sentenced on the album otherwise really well succeeded, are the tempo changes in the tracks, which make the album quite varied and worth listening to, even if they win with "Shadows of the Past" certainly no innovation prize, because you have heard it all at the time somewhere else.

If you like to listen to old school death metal, especially Finnish, and can't do anything with the albums of Sentenced from 1996 on (i.e. "Down"), you should at least risk an ear.Apart from that, if you're a collector, you should grab the original CD if you can find it, because it has a pretty cool cover and when I look at the prices on Ebay, it must be also pretty rare.

Long before they were gothics - 80%

colin040, June 27th, 2020

Long before Sentenced embraced their inner gothic, they were yet another Finish death metal band. Compared to other albums of its time Shadows of the Past is by no means unique, yet it remains unique in the band’s catalog as it shows the band at their grittiest. Forget the drunken howls and Maiden-inspired licks of Amok and don’t come in expecting the adrenaline-pumping riff-craft of North from Here. Shadows of the Past represents nothing but a faithful slab of old school death metal.

Whereas Finnish death metal was often characterized by its murky ugliness, Shadows of the Past doesn’t express itself in ways one might expect. Indeed, there’s something rather un-Finnish about this album and I’d argue that at this point in their career, Sentenced had a tad more in common with Bolt Thrower than any other band. Regardless of sounding stylistically extreme, the melodic side of Shadows of the Past comes to life through colorful guitar solos and leads. There are also very little blast beats to be found here and when they do appear, they work excellent within the context of Shadows of the Past.

'When the Moment of Death Arrives’ sums what Sentenced had in store at this point; fluently switching between these heavy grooves and rolling tremolo riffs, it’s an excellent opener with some tasteful leads to open and end the track with. ‘Disengagement’ sees the drummer taking charge through a brief but welcoming blast-beat attack before gloom and doom gets unfold through a morbid slow passage and back again; definitely another highlight that demonstrates the band’s feeling for contrasts very well. That being said, Shadows of the Past goes on for a little too long and you can bet that some songs aren’t too great. The creepy opening of ‘’Rot to Dead’’ sounds like something you’d expect out of South of Heaven, yet the track features some weaker than usual series of riffs. ‘The Truth’ certainly tries with a spooky acoustic introduction, but otherwise has a few gruesome moments floating around that generic main riff. Saving the worst for the last, ‘Descending Curtain of Death’ feels more like a guitar exercise than anything else; passively it dwells on with some mediocre leads and no real riffs to intensify the mood with - not exactly the ideal way to close an album, I reckon, but so be it.

Otherwise there’s very little to nitpick about Shadows of the Past. Just like plenty of early death metal records, this album contains that certain kind of appeal and catchiness that made death metal so appealing in its heyday. ‘Beyond the Distant Valleys’ exemplifies the most intense moments of Shadows of the Past where the band just doesn’t hold back. Maniacal Morgoth-esque howls echo through the spooky scenery of the cover artwork while the guitars grind their way onward. In addition there’s a prominent bass that fluently melts with the guitar lines and a powerhouse of a drummer who pounds the rhythm section onward with malice; partly thanks to that thick-as-stone drum tone.

Had anyone told these guys that they’d play soft gothic music a few years later, they probably would have laughed in your face. The truth is that Sentenced were yet another band that turned into a gothic metal outfit as time went on. That doesn't take anything away from their earlier material and Shadows of the Past will forever be a worthy example of early 90's death metal.

Progressive death metal monstrosity - 91%

robotniq, June 26th, 2020
Written based on this version: 1991, CD, Century Media Records

The first Sentenced album is an underappreciated and misunderstood death metal classic. By 1992, Finland had become (arguably) the epicentre of death metal creativity. Amorphis and Demigod released superb debut albums that year, only for Sentenced to outdo them both. On the surface there is little progression from the "Rotting Ways to Misery" demo. Most of the songs on this album have been re-recorded from that demo (five on the LP version, six on the CD). Each of these re-recorded songs is an absolute monster. The band’s style tends towards slower or mid-paced crawling death metal, lacking the melancholic feel of true death/doom. The key to the band’s greatness is Miika Tenkula and his soloing. He was able to colour and direct songs using his melodic instincts. Few death metal guitarists do this. As such, Sentenced created an album which is free from clichés and full of genuinely progressive moments.

The production is masterful, one of the best death metal productions ever. It sounds monolithic but clean enough to show the details. There is no murk at all. I like murk in old school death metal, but it wouldn’t have suited Sentenced here. "Shadows of the Past" sounds superior to the preceding demo because it is cleaner and more precise. Without murk to hide behind, the band prove that their heaviness comes from their musicality and composition, rather than just through de-tuning and rawness. Tenkula can now shine, and this album cements him as an elite death metal guitarist/vocalist. Comparisons to Chuck Schuldiner are warranted (and tragically inevitable). Both men had the ability to elevate death metal drudgery into more progressive places without castrating their music. Notice how often Sentenced play slow and mid-paced riffs. A similar but less capable band would struggle to keep this interesting without using gimmicks. Listen to the opening of "Under the Suffer", the repeated riff is brutal but would quickly get boring on its own. Tenkula uses this riff as a backbone to a solo, which takes the listener on a journey. This allows for the repetition of the riff to the point where it sounds bludgeoning. The heaviness comes through the composition rather than through trickery.

The three new songs take things even further. Opener "When the Moment of Death Arrives" is a masterclass from drummer Vesa Ranta. He shows a fantastic array of fills, double kick and galloping. Second song "Rot to Dead" is shorter, intentionally awkward and technical. It begins by ripping off "South of Heaven" (in a good way). Then the slow, rumbling bass comes in underneath a slow part. New bassist (future vocalist) Taneli Jarva sounds louder in the mix than the guy on the demos. This song reminds me of their progressive death metal contemporaries Dark Millennium, whose "Ashore the Celestial Burden" debut was released the same year. The other new song is "Beyond the Distant Valleys". Wow. This is the best, fastest and most aggressive song on the album. It bears obvious comparisons to Demigod. Both bands use low bass-rumbling sounds to drive things forward. The section at around 3:25 builds into tremolo picking and sounds like what would later be known as ‘melodic black metal’. Of course, Sentenced follow this with some tasty, de-tuned pummeling that no melodic black metal band would ever do. Anyone who appreciated the excellent Mefitis album “Emberdawn” (from 2019) will love this song.

"Shadows of the Past" deserves repeated, concerted listens. The progressive side of this album isn't obvious. There isn’t any jazzy noodling or strange time changes. The progressiveness comes through the breadth and depth of what the band are doing. This record doesn’t grab you by the throat like many other classic death metal records. This is what makes it interesting. Death metal in 1992 needed to be good to avoid being generic. The bigger bands were all passing their peak and "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" would change the game (especially in Scandinavia). Late bloomers like Sentenced managed to keep the torch burning by evolving death metal to the extent shown here. "Shadows of the Past" is probably the best Finnish death metal album (high praise). Sentenced never returned to this dark world again, but they left behind a death metal masterwork which any self-respecting death metal fan should seek out.

Swedish fish - 84%

Thy Shrine, March 14th, 2019

It seems to me that people are into death metal for a couple main reasons. It's either the aggression of it, or it's the more atmospheric component. There's an even bigger reason in my opinion that trumps these, it's a little thing called morbidity.

It is after all called death metal, and it didn't acquire this name for no reason, it's because at it's heart, it should have a feeling of complete death wash over you. It's not accessible, it doesn't need to be technical, it doesn't even need to be aggressive, because let's face it, this album isn't really all that aggressive, it comes from a different perspective than that. It's dark, heavy, and very morbid, and that's why it's so good, it's everything death metal represents.

Now this is by no means the best death metal album ever created, but it really does sound the part, look the part, and most importantly it feels the part. People can choose to be brutal all they want, but why not sound like a thousand rotting corpses decaying in some disgusting crypt somewhere in a wooded forest in Finland.

You might think this is on par with something by Convulse or Incantation by the way I've described it, but no it's nothing like those bands. It's Basically what you would get it Dan Swano was a member of Carnage when they recorded Dark Recollections, it's Swedish dm to the bone with a slight progressive twist. Even the production is basically the same.

And speaking of production, it has that really cool thing that all metal albums should have. The material should be easy to make out, but it should still sound lively. I don't get a real sterile feeling listening to this, even if the production is a little subdued, it still sounds lively enough that I can actually enjoy what I'm listening to, instead of reading a book, or checking my watch, or playing chess, I can put this on and just enjoy it.

It's just really cool death metal that sounds delightfully unpleasant and morbid, which will always be the defining features of this genre. If you can write songs with these ingredients you'll be Death metal supreme, and that's what Sentenced were circa 1992.

Enjoyable Finnish death metal, but overlong - 72%

shatteredsymbols, December 3rd, 2017
Written based on this version: 2008, 2CD, Century Media Records (Limited edition, Reissue, Remastered, Slipcase, Black disc)

Prior to becoming a gothic metal band in the mid-90's, Sentenced began life as a death metal act, releasing a couple of EP's before dropping their debut record, Shadows of the Past. The album opens with a deep, ambient wash of what sounds like synthesized strings; it isn't unusual for extreme metal bands to begin a song with an acoustic or classically influenced passage (in style rather than composition, it should be noted) but there's a sort of understated malevolence and horror about this that I felt it needed to be pointed out despite being largely insignificant to the overall recording. Moving from that, the song transitions into an excellent melodic riff accompanied by rhythmic swells of guitar, building up to the death metal assault of the rest of the track, which is pummeling and intense. The drumming is excellent, Vesa Ranta's performance driving, musical and suitably primitive.

This song sort of belies both the strengths and flaws of Shadows of the Past, actually. It can't be denied that the band is enthusiastic and capable, or that the riffs are both melodic and vicious, or that the drumming is colorful and mechanically devoted to pushing the songs onward, or that Miika Tenkula possesses a rich, deep growl that fits the music wonderfully. On the rest of the album they for the most part continue in this fashion, Sami Lopakka and Tenkula's twin guitars harmonizing to create a dark selection of thrash-infused riffs. The tone and style of the guitars is obviously quite similar to the classic Swedish sound of bands like Dismember or Entombed rather than the unique, almost undefinable Finnish aesthetic, which can make it feel like although the music is enjoyable, it isn't particularly unique. Sentenced are certainly competent, and at times brilliant (check the demented vocals and rabid soloing on Rotting Ways to Misery, or the headbanging riffs on The Truth) but ultimately the album is dragged down by its greatest flaw; meandering, overlong songs.

Now, Shadows of the Past is a good album, it needs to be said, but it could have been a great one. The production is nice with noticeable clarity on the drums (especially the bass drums, which repeatedly thump throughout the album) and the performances, particularly the soloing, are of high quality, but it's let down by the compositions simply having too much fat on them. The album itself isn't necessarily that long (it only clocks in at 44 minutes, after all) but almost every song is between five and six minutes in length, with the sole exception of Rot to Dead. Not to say that there's something inherently bad about having lengthier songs, but on this record it isn't needed and the band would have been better off by tightening them up, or even utilizing sharper transitions rather than the noodling that Sentenced are prone to on this album. Nothing stands out as being bad, but it lapses into being boring occasionally, which could easily have been avoided.

If you're into old school death metal (or Swedish death metal, funnily enough) then this is absolutely worth your time; every facet of it is done well (although only from time to time is it great) and its borderline melodic, thrash infused riffwork is incredibly listenable, but it needed to do more to stand out in the sea of good death metal from this decade.

Solid death metal from the old days of yore - 71%

Myrkrarfar, May 12th, 2017

Sentenced’s debut album was released during the golden years of Scandinavian death metal, and that’s exactly what this record contains – Scandinavian death metal. Over the next 15 years the booze-loving Finns went on to evolve into a radio-friendly and melodic heavy metal/rock band, and since 1996’s “Down” they were one of Finland’s most successful bands both at home and abroad, right until their demise in 2005. I’ve got nothing against their later releases, I really love for example “The Cold White Light” a lot, but on “Shadows of the past” they were quite fucking badass in comparison.

The opener “When the Moment of Death Arrives” starts out with a melody that reminds me of Dissection and other Swedish death/black bands of the 90’s. Slightly folkish melodies of this kind (though more Sentencesque) pop up every now and then during the course of the record, and give you some kind of evidence that it is, in fact, the same band that made “Killing Me, Killing You”…which is probably in the all-time top 10 of Most Emo Song Titles. Pretty far off from the pure and stale right-on death titles like “Rot to Dead” or “Under the Suffer” found on this disc. Though the melody leads and the occasional well-executed Kirk Hammett-style solo add a nice spice to the mix, the foundation of this record lies in chunky, groovy mid-tempo death metal riffs in the vein of old Entombed, Grave or even Obituary. There’s practically no faster paced material at all, which makes the listening experience somewhat monotonous as there aren’t that many contrasts. I’m not saying every death metal LP should range from doom to grind, just that the tempo on this one gets a tad over-used. Almost all riffs are also written in the same key which dulls the mind like ten seconds watching the GOD Channel. OK, not quite.

Despite that, there’s some interesting songwriting on this disc, with some progressive elements that are sadly gone for the most part in most of the groovier kind of death metal today. There are some great and unorthodox solutions for the drumming with nice beats that remind a little of Nicke Andersson’s way of adapting his playing to the guitar riffs and not just slavishly playing some beat that he already knew. Drummers, please take this to mind. Or fucking die. Another interesting thing on this particular CD is the vocalist. This is the only album on which we can hear lead guitarist Miika Tenkula (R.I.P.) growling, and I have to say he sounds pretty fucking amazing. You can almost smell the grime of his bowels as he’s eradicating them with every plagued syllable, not too distant from the vocal style of Klas Morberg (Desultory) but with a taste of Johnny from Unleashed.

The production is quite good, though the guitars could’ve used a bit more punch. The lack of brickwalling makes the album sound more organic and gives it that nice old-school feel as well. Back in the day the songs were also written to be recorded with this kind of production; had these songs been recorded today with maxed out decibel levels all the way through, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed them as much. All in all, this is a solid death metal record from the old days of yore. If you’re into any of the bands mentioned in the review, check this out. It’s not pure awesomeness, but it’s a good album with nice efforts from the whole line-up – though the guitars sound a bit out of tune…you could call that charming, though. Right? I would not recommend this to a prototype fan of Sentenced’s later material, at least not without a warning: May contain death metal that makes you wanna kill your emo self. On the other hand, that could come across as a promise…

Swedish Death Metal from Finland - 97%

Roffle_the_Thrashard, August 29th, 2015

Drawing from all veins of its old-school brothers from around the world, Sentenced created a piece of old-school death metal in its glory days that must be listened to. For fans of Dismember, Gorement, Grave, and Death, you just found another holy grail of death metal greatness when discovering Shadows of the Past. It has very few weaknesses to speak of and despite being Finnish, has an edge to it that just screams good ol' Swedish death metal. So if old school is what you seek, you just found the pot at the end of the rainbow.

If you have not gotten your daily dose of evil today, then Shadows of the Past is certainly a recommended listen. It is quite easy to write lyrics that are perverse, as well as use gimmicks to make yourself appear menacing. However, to actually create a mood of evil through the melodies you're playing, is something that is very powerful. The haunting, ominous beginning of "The Truth" opens up with some dissonant a foreboding acoustic parts that will undoubtedly send chills through your veins. The following choir vocals and the electric guitar chords, open up to the surprising and almost frightening screams of Miika Tenkula and the band really starts to groove while Tenkula plays along with a solo similar to those played by Chuck Schuldiner in his later career. The whole song just emits this sinister aura that comes of the album as a whole like steam off a lake. It's almost tangible.

Another aspect here that you can almost feel is how creepily this album sounds like Dismember's Like an Ever Flowing Stream. The chords used by Dismember can be found here, as well as the vice versa. The production here is also freakishly similar in terms of the mixing and the tones chosen for the instruments. The guitars sound exactly the same, and the drum production is nearly identical. This is sound is very characteristic of Swedish death metal groups at the time, as this album, Grave's Into the Grave, and the aforementioned Like An Ever Flowing Stream all sound the same in terms of production. The note and melody choice is all very similar, and Sentenced and these bands are nothing but a drop in the bucket of the groups around at this time doing the exact same thing.

But along with the ability to create an evil atmosphere, what sets this band apart from other European death metal acts at the time is the musical ability of its musicians. At the top of this list is guitarist and monstrous vocalist Miika Tenkula. The man is like a mixed drink of all of the favorable qualities of death metal vocalists and guitarists at the time that this album was released. His solos sound freakishly like Chuck Schuldiner's, and the vocals have a mixture of Schuldiner, Luc Lemay, and even the great John Tardy in terms of power and sheer tenacity. Listen to the choruses of "Under the Suffer," and you'll immediately hear the striking resemblance to Tardy's signature vocal timing with the riffs, that sound like the chorus of Cause of Death-era Obituary.

And as the last somber notes of “Descending Curtain of Death" finally died out, I sat and thought to myself: "That was spectacular," and it truly was. Something about the chords or, maybe it was the vocals that were powerful beyond powerful, or the solos that were quite intense, simply dumbfounded me. I have not heard death metal in a long time that had the same awesome effect on me that Sentenced and their debut, Shadows of the Past did. With the exception of Obituary, and maybe Death, Europe's death metal bands simply had a vibe that their American partners didn't. And Shadows of the Past has a vibe that few bands will be able to obtain.

Endless Tribulation - 83%

Nightmare_Reality, June 5th, 2012

I'm sure any death metal fan reading this knows about Finland and the country's tendency to unleash filthy, murky death metal of the highest caliber, so I won't ramble on about it and bore you. Sentenced is one such band that took up their axes and then proceeded to drown them in melodic, doomy brilliance and then drop tune the shit out of them. Seriously, these guys must have gone a major Bolt Thrower binge because the amount of grooving and chugging on "Shadows of Past" is ridiculous. The opening track "When the Moment of Death Arrives" starts off the way that you would expect a Finndeath band to sound - with a dark, yet beautiful melody that sets up the tone and then all of a sudden this plodding, behemoth-like riff enters the fray and heads begin to bang. "Rot to Dead" and "Under the Suffer" are a couple more tracks that embrace the "Realm of Chaos" groove and pummeling and they do it incredibly well.

Of course, this is Finnish death metal and "Shadows of Past" isn't just a Bolt Thrower-worship record. There are plenty of melodies strung throughout this album, whether they're used as an atmosphere enhancer like on the intro to "Rotting Ways of Misery," or they're being used to balance out the heaviness with the melodic like on "Disengagement," Sentenced knows how to write some great music that isn't just endless tremolos and blast beats. Another notable trait of the country's style of death metal is the underlying doom influence and just about every song has a moment that is undeniably doomy. The powerchords possess a grim emptiness to them that conjures the feel most of the time, similar to a band like Autopsy, but there are also plenty of riffs that are just straight-up doom ("Disengagement"). But, the major influence for this low-end sound is none other than the heavy-as-fuck bass. The bass creeps along and is always the elephant in the room, so to speak, and its presence is very welcome as far as I'm concerned.

In addition to the Bolt Thrower grooving and the more melodic material, a lot of the other riffs and parts of the music are greatly influenced by the godfathers of death metal, Death. The tremolo sections throughout reek of "Leprosy"-era Death, as they're fast and somewhat evil sounding, but not as heavy as a band like Incantation or as evil as a band like Morbid Angel. The vocals are also very reminiscent of Chuck Schuldiner, but there's also a healthy dose of Brett Hoffmann in there as well. "Shadows of Past" is definitely a great record to have in your collection if you're a fan of Bolt Thrower, Death or Autopsy, as it is a fantastic representative of what Finland had to offer, though Sentenced wasn't the best. It's a shame that these guys would go on to later produce some utter shit, but at least I've still got this album to deteriorate my eardrums to...

Highlights
"When the Moment of Death Arrives"
"Rot to Dead"
"Suffocated Beginning of Life"

Originally written for Nightmare Reality Webzine.
nightmarerealitywebzine.blogspot.com

When the moment of death arrives... - 80%

CoffinText, February 25th, 2009

“Darkness fills the life
covers the tired mind
like the darkest damnation
anxiety, oppression”



In honor of Miika Tenkula’s recent death, I’m going to make it my goal to review every Sentenced release in chronological order, beginning with their 1991 full length debut album, Shadows of the Past. My writing skills are probably a little rusty as of now, but, let’s just see how this goes….

Let me say something about the guy first; Miika Tenkula. He was the driving force behind Sentenced; wrote the majority of the lyrics and riffs, came up with the song structures, decided every direction that the band would go in prior to every new release, and well, ended up disbanding his creation, putting Sentenced to rest for good in late 2005. But this review isn’t about the end, it’s about the beginning. It’s about four young metal heads from Oulu, Finland, on a journey to create some of the darkest, most sinister music to be printed on vinyl. Of course, the year was 1991, and the Black Metal scene in Norway had just began to flourish. But you know what? Norway was in a little world of its own, metaphorically isolated from the rest of metal community. But, Death Metal on the other hand had been a totally different story…

In the late 80s, it had exploded world wide, pioneered by the likes of Death, Possessed and Bolt Thrower. As a matter of fact, the obvious Death/Bolt Thrower influence within Shadows of the Past has been pointed out quite a few times. People have even thrown in comparisons to old Paradise Lost. I can’t really disagree, although I must stress that this album is NOT in any way a carbon copy of any of the aforementioned groups, nor is it in any way musically groundbreaking and spectacular. What we’ve got here is just the general bases for early 90s Death Metal with a strong emphases on the riff work. Miika and Sami (guitar duo) forge some of the ugliest, heaviest riffs I have ever laid ears on. And I have to say, the riff work plays an important role for the album’s dark and brooding atmosphere. So let’s just say that this is far from brutal Death Metal, as it contains its fair share of doom-esque, slow and uber heavy guitar work. Blast beats (if you wish to call them that) are sprinkled casually through out, carrying on through typical Death Metal numbers like “Rot to Dead” and “Rotting Ways of Misery”. As stated before, this is typical early 90s Death Metal, with a strong Swedish vibe to. Although the band hails from Finland, you would have probably assumed that they were Swedish, just by listening the sound of this record.

Another important aspect of the music is Taneli Jarva’s BASS! Akin to the guitars, the bass is low, down-tuned and quite muddy in its execution, perfect for this brand of Death Metal. It gives it that…sort of “doom” like atmosphere as it rumbles through under the thickness of the riffs. This is most present in the first and best track on the album, “When The Moment of Death Arrives”. After giving this track a listen, you’ve pretty much heard the whole album already. But needless to say, Shadows of the Past is a strong, solid piece of music from beginning to end. Now, Miika’s vocals aren’t anything to wet yourself over. They’re deep, guttural, and perfectly reflect his lyrics that delve into topics such as suffering, death, decay and doom. I’ve heard better, but I’ve also heard much worse, and they are certainly deeper than Chuck Schuldiner’s. This would be his last up front vocal performance with the band. Bassist Taneli Jarva would take up vocal duties for the next few releases.

Despite this album technically being Sentenced’s heaviest release, it is by far from their crowning achievement. But, I’d recommend this album to any fans of Death and Extreme Metal. It’s definitely worth a listen, just don’t expect anything extraordinary.


“Memories of his past life
vividly in his mind
feeling himself alive again
when the Moment of Death arrives”

Their glorious beginnings - 89%

Pestbesmittad, July 14th, 2007

You basically can’t go wrong with early 90s death metal and this album is one more proof of that. “Shadows of the Past” is Sentenced at their deadliest and heaviest. The material is mostly influenced by two bands: Death ( “Leprosy” – “Spiritual Healing” era) and Paradise Lost (“Lost Paradise” – “Gothic” era). Some slower parts also remind me of Boltthrower. The vocals sound quite a lot like Chuck Schuldiner. Despite being heavily influenced by the aforementioned acts, this album is not any kind of weak clone but stands up very favourably among all the noteworthy old school death metal releases.

Production wise “Shadows of the Past” is the heaviest Sentenced outing for sure. The guitars are thick and down tuned just like you’d expect them to be and the bass provides a proper foundation for the music. The album has been recorded at Tico-Tico studios but still manages to sound different from the tons of other metal albums recorded there.

“When the Moment of Death Arrives” is the first track and after a short mournful keyboard intro the metal stuff kicks in. You immediately notice the obvious Paradise Lost influence in the guitar melody, great! The fast parts of this song make me think of Death. This track shows you exactly what this album is about: a skilled combination of heavy riffs and melodies that really manages to keep one’s attention and has that great old school death metal feel. “Rot to Dead” features a part which sounds very Death influenced when looking at both the guitar riff and drum rhythm, if you’ve heard the two Death albums mentioned in the beginning of this review, you’ll know what I mean. The rest of the album continues in the same manner: heavy Death/Paradise Lost/Boltthrower inspired riffing meets Paradise Lost inspired melodies.

I’m reviewing the re-release of this album, which has the “Journey to Pohjola” promo tape as bonus tracks. Two of its tracks appeared on latter releases, while the instrumental “Mythic Silence (As They Wander in the Mist)” remained exclusive to this tape. This instrumental track is in the “North From Here” vein, melodic and technical, a great listen nonetheless. The version of “Wings” on this promo doesn’t differ much from the version on “North From Here” but some guitar and bass lines are a bit different from the final version. I myself hadn’t heard “Journey to Pohjola” before so I really appreciate it being included here. If you don’t have this yet, make sure to get it and enjoy some truly classic death metal! The inclusion of “Journey to Pohjola” as a bonus makes this re-release a real must.