Sentenced

O

riginally called Deformity in 1988, the guitar playing membership of Miika Tenkula (guitar/vocals) and Sami Lopakka (guitar) re-founded their Finnish act under the name Sentenced. Staying true to the purveying style of Scandinavian heavy music of the day to produce the occult, this group released their debut album Shadows Of The Past (1991) while adding Taneli Jarva (bass; replacing Lari Kylmänen) and Vesa Ranta (drums), to the line-up for 1992's follow-up set, North From Here, an album released just prior to a 1993 EP The Trooper, an EP whereby the title track was exactly as the world thought - a cover of an Iron Maiden classic of the same name. Indeed, such a cover served to confirm the rumors the band were moving away from black metal to the more accessible NWOBHM. Amok (1995) and Down (1997) were the last albums to feature Jarva who was replaced by Ville Laihiala. Frozen (1998) would see Sami Kukkohovi take over on bass.