[Interview conducted May 2005]

As the summer fades and the festivals draw to a close, the final chapter is being written for Sentenced. After sixteen years of bitterness and joy, Finland's finest have mutually agreed to go their separate ways, leaving us one final emotional release in the shape of The Funeral Album. Infused with all of the hope, melancholy, anger and wry humor that have long defined Sentenced, this terminal opus also covers much of the musical ground of the past while incorporating a few new twists as well (check out the children's choir on "Vengeance is Mine" and the harmonica at the start of "Despair-Ridden Hearts").. To help alleviate the grief and see us through this time of mourning, vocalist Ville Laihiala delivers his eulogy for the serial self-killers…

I know you guys took a break prior to The Cold White Light - was there a thought at that point of putting the band to rest?
No, not at that time. We were really tired of touring and starting to get into arguments, but nothing really serious. That break we took before The Cold White Light was really good for us and you can hear on that album that we really needed the break.

In regards to the new album, the song "Where Waters Fall Frozen" really stands out - what inspired that one?
The guys were actually waiting for me to arrive at the rehearsal place, so maybe they got this sudden burst of anger because I was late or something, I don't know. They started to jam on that song and we all felt it deserves to be on the album. It's something that nobody would really expect. We left it the way it was at the rehearsal place, like this kind of a crappy-sounding, shitty-playing violent burst of diarrhea or whatever. Still you can also see kind of a reference to the past of the band, this kind of dyed-to-the-roots, but it wasn't made with that in mind.

I like the fact that with the last couple albums, you really took your time and worked on them until you were satisfied BUT you didn't spend six years agonizing over every little detail either. Is that a difficult balance at all, deciding at what point a song is truly finished?
That's one reason we use a producer when we record. We record the songs in a way that we want in the studio and also try the sounds that we think would fit and that's where the producer comes in, to help us reach even deeper into the sound or whatever. If you truly concentrate on what you are doing and the song you are working on, it's pretty painless to find the right sounds and right atmospheres. Obviously, some songs don't work so we just kick them out of the fucking album. (laughs)

Is everyone in the band usually on the same page in terms of which songs work and which ones don't?
It doesn't really matter who brings the song to the rehearsal place, we all five contribute something because it has to go through each one of us since we play the song together. So everybody does their own part in a way and usually all the arguments happens at the rehearsal place. When we go into the studio, it is more or less working and trying to do the very best that you can.

What is the process like as far as uniting the lyrics and the music? Does the music evoke the lyrics or vice versa or do they both come independently?
First is music and then lyrics. We usually write what the music makes us feel or the vibe that we get out of the song. To us, it is really important that the music and the lyrics work together. The song should be one whole thing and not just one guitar riff and crappy lyrics on it or whatever; they have to work together.

Yeah, it seems like the emphasis has really gone away from meaningful lyrics with a lot of bands in recent years, but you guys have always written songs that meant something.
Like I said, it's a big part of the song and our main lyric writer [Sami] Lopakka, he's really taking time when he's writing those things. His principles and humor are kind of in a way weird but still really healthy, if you understand. To me, when I read his lyrics I always find something totally black there.

Sentenced is one of those rare bands that writes such dark lyrics, yet when I am feeling down, they always manage to make me feel better.
They lift you up. To us, it's the same way. It's kind of therapy to us, to get rid of everything, the depressive feelings or whatever, so maybe it's the same kind of experience for a lot of [other] people, too. Which is really great to hear.

The cover artwork is very minimal - was it difficult at all to decide what direction to go with the artwork for this one?
The theme is 'funeral' so obviously we wanted it to be more or less black and dark images. All of the booklet images and art were made by our drummer and he took pictures all over Europe. It's really hard to explain the pictures because they don't really….uh…… (laughs) You should really see the pictures. He did more of like, not that much colors and a theme throughout the whole booklet.

I understand there is a DVD in the works. What can we expect from that and when will it see the light of day?
We're going to play our final show in our home town, Oulu, in September and we're going to record the DVD out of that show. The reason for that is that we know that there are a lot of people who aren't able to come to the final show so they can at least watch it on DVD, the last five minutes of the band. There will also be all of our videos and also lots of stuff that we have recorded with our own personal video cameras throughout the years, so there should be a lot of twisted and funny weird shit to put on there, too. We also are going to record two videos from this last album.

Oh, which songs are you going to do?
"Everfrost" and "Despair-Ridden Hearts."

Oh cool-
I don't think it's cool because I hate making videos. Maybe it's just me because I don't really watch music television so I just think it's a waste of money.

That's very cool that you are filming the final show though, since like you said, there are many people who won't be able to see you on this last tour but really want to.
We've got two days before the show to prepare everything, so it should look okay. (pause) Even though the band sucks.

Can you tell me about what plans you have for Poisonblack?
The second album was recorded already eight months ago, but I have to remix it because I don't like the sound and also we will record four new songs for it and kick out some of the bad songs. Try to make it as tight as possible and it will be out at the end of this year, so for me this touring and playing music will continue at least one more year.

How does this Poisonblack album compare to the first one?
I'm going to say that gothic girls will be truly disappointed - it's not gothic anymore.

Do you have any plans beyond that?
No, after the touring for the next Poisonblack album is done then I'm going to take a long, long, LONG break from music and maybe produce or record or whatever but it will be something with music because I've been doing it since I was eleven years old and now I'm nineteen. (laughs) But yeah, just spend time with my boys and see them grow and I've already lost so much time of my fatherhood so I want to get some of that back so it's time to put the music aside.