Review by Michael on July 23, 2002.

Very few (and I won’t say metal) ‘hard rocking’ albums have hit a nerve with me in recent times, especially from bands like Sentenced who are still pumping the sound that was popular in the early nineties, but their latest offering ”The Cold White Light” blows me away every time I hear it. Every facet of this album is cliché, from the standard eighties style drum beats, to the glorious hair swinging chorus’ and last but not least the fine use of claps! ...but isn’t that what we are all looking for somewhere deep inside? To feel great hearing the classic 1-4-5-1 Cadence...?

After swinging my hair around and playing air guitar during the first spin, I decided to really sit down and listen to this record. I very quickly came to the conclusion that it sounded basically exactly the same as any other Sentenced album. But hey, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing! Sentenced have definitely earned themselves a spot in the hard rocking metal pages.

One thing I always hear in Sentenced is Metallica. Obviously they are different bands, but on so many occasions while listening to ”The Cold White Light” I was reminded of the vocals of James Hetfield and the guitar lines off say for example Metallica’s ”Black Album”.

Aside from this album being a stock standard hard rocker, it really does have some brilliant moments when you come to realize why we all loved the 80’s so much when we were there, the world needs bands like Sentenced who for whatever reason think they are still rocking out in ’89.

The production is by far the best production I’ve heard from Sentenced, there are the same kinds of ideas as on previous albums, but the actual recording is much better quality. More bottom end has been incorporated which has helped them take at least one step away from the traditional sound they are so famous for.

Bottom Line: This is a great hard rock album. Good production, classic riffs and catchy vocal lines. If you liked anything from the late 80’s to the early 90’s then you will like this.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 5
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.2 out of 10