At this point, Sentenced had all but abandoned their death metal roots, the only remnant being Miika Tenkula's growling vocals (which are laced with a more melodic approach). Musically the band had evolved into a melodic power metal direction, very tastily executed. As a result, 'Amok' is as much a ground breaking album as it is a masterpiece, by far one of the finest metal albums of the mid-90s. The opening track "The War Ain't over!" lays down a foundation of well-conceived, memorable tunes that continues in "Phenix", "New Age Messiah", and "Forever Lost". Some of the tracks on the latter half of the album incorporate a more mainstream rock element (i.e. "Funeral Spring" and "Nepenthe"), but the band closes the album off with another fine melodic metal number "Moon Magick" and a glorious yet serene instrumental piece called "The Golden Stream of Lapland". This is easily the best album by Sentenced, completely unique, and with enough relevance to make it one of my personal favorite works of this time period.

© 2000 pizarro