SENTENCED — Journey to Pohjola (review)

SENTENCED — Journey to Pohjola album cover Demo · 1992 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Journey to Pohjola" is a demo release by Finland, Muhos based death metal act Sentenced. The demo was independently released on cassette tape in March 1992 and bridges the gap between the band´s debut- and second full-length studio albums "Shadows of the Past" from December 1991 and "North From Here" from June 1993. It´s a bit unusual for a band to record a demo so shortly after releasing their debut album, but Sentenced´s deal with Thrash Records was only for one album, and they felt the need to record a demo which showed their development, since most of the debut album featured re-recorded demo material written in their formative year(s), and the band had more or less already moved on to another sound when the debut was released. Out of the 3 tracks on the 14:24 minutes long demo, only "Wings" would make it unto "North From Here" in re-recorded form.

Right from the opening notes of "Wings" the stylistic change is heard. Lead vocalist/lead guitarist/main composer Miika Tenkula sings in a slightly higher pitched and more aggressive growling register, and the track features a more cold sound borrowing heavily from black metal, while still being a death metal track. The guitar riffs are now also more melodic and the material are generally faster-paced (although there are also doom/death metal parts found here) and more technical in style compared to the old school death metal sound of the debut album.

In terms of production values "Journey to Pohjola" is a professionally recorded demo, and no one would have objected if the demo had been released as an EP instead. That´s how well sounding the material is. Powerful, intense, and detailed are words which are valid to describe the high quality sound production. This would be the last Sentenced release to feature Tenkula on vocals, as he very suddenly and without notice informed the rest of the band (on the way to play a gig), that he would no longer be performing vocals for Sentenced, as he wished to solely concentrate on playing lead guitar. Bassist Taneli Jarva had previously performed some backing vocals (which he actually does on this demo), and it was quickly decided that he should step up and be the band´s new frontman in addition to playing bass. So in many ways "Journey to Pohjola" is a transition release from the band´s old school death metal releases to the more technical and melodic sound of "North From Here" and the lead vocalist change was just another development of the band´s sound in those years. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved. Through and through a high quality demo recording this one...
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