Sentenced continue their downward descent into the commercial mainstream, toning down even from the previous album 'Frozen', with the exception of a few riffs they borrowed from that album and 'Down'. Yet, where 'Frozen' had a handful of tracks which made the album worthwhile, there is little saving grace here. Sentenced have created a throwback in their own evolution, this is 4-chord leather-tights rock reminiscent of Skid Row, Warrant, and Tyketto of the late 80s (almost every song here is a failed love ballad or ANOTHER suicide song in the repeated tradition of their past two albums). While I thought that Ville Laihiala's vocals actually made a fresh impression on 'Down', he is far too rock and roll here and contributes to the album's overall demise. A few somewhat catchy riffs on "No More Beating as One" and "Broken" aren't enough to rescue this album from the sodden pit of mediocrity. Avoid this at all cost, it's practically suicide-inductive and we'd all be better off listening to "18 & Life" any day.

© 2000 pizarro