SENTENCED — The Trooper (review)

SENTENCED — The Trooper album cover EP · 1993 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"The Trooper" is an EP release by Finland, Muhos based death metal act Sentenced. The EP was released through Spinefarm Records in October 1994. It bridges the gap between the band´s second and third full-length studio albums "North From Here" (1993) and "Amok" (1995). The material was recorded in 1992 prior to the release of "North From Here" (1993) (except "Awaiting the Winter Frost", which is culled directly from said album), but not released until two years later.

The EP features 4 tracks and a total playing time of 21:02 minutes. The title track is a cover of the iconic Iron Maiden song, delivered here in an energetic and faster blackenced death metal fashion, with lead vocalist Taneli Jarva delivering his snarling aggressive blackened growling attack. The next track is probably the most interesting song on the EP for most people as it´s a non-album track appearing here for the first time, and it´s also a pretty brilliant track to boot. "Desert by Night" is just one of those tracks where you wonder why the band didn´t find a place for it on an album release.

"In Memoriam" is culled from the March 1992 "Journey to Pohjola" demo, and features Miika Tenkula on vocals. It´s a bit of an odd choice for this EP, as it´s the most old school death metal sounding track on "Journey to Pohjola" (1992) and the track on the EP farthest from the style on "North From Here" (1993). The fourth track is as mentioned above "Awaiting the Winter Frost" which appear here in the same version as it appears on "North From Here" (1993).

An EP release like "The Trooper" should be listened to a reviewed in the context of how and when it was released, as today it´s more or less redundant as the material has been included on reissues of albums and on compilation releases and as a result have become more readily available to the fans. Back then only "Awaiting the Winter Frost" was a track that most people knew, and although Sentenced´s cover of "The Trooper" appears a little rushed and sounds like something recorded in a good demo quality, you still get "Desert by Night", which is quite the brillant track, and of course "In Memoriam", which is a great doom/death metal track too, although it maybe feels a little out of place in this EP. A 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.
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