SENTENCED - Interview with Sami Lopakka Page 4
by Martin Popoff

How about a few words on the last couple of Sentenced albums?

"Well, if I start with the Crimson album, from 2000, that was a pretty mid-tempo one, and the overall feeling to it is pretty depressing, I would say. I think we even went a bit too far, with the depression themes and all the bitterness that is included. There wasn't much change from song to song. The mood of the songs is pretty much the same. When you listen to it for 50 minutes, you probably get worn out, in a way. Then, we recognized this sort of a problem, probably right after we released Crimson. So for the next one, we wanted to go back to the sarcastic kind of approach. And also, we were very careful about choosing different kinds of songs for the album. So there are fast ones, slow ones; it keeps changing all the time. And even lyrics-wise, it is changing from black humor to being totally serious about something, and then again playing with those two, f**king with people's minds. So yes, when you get to The Cold White Light, which was the next one after Crimson, we are pretty close to this one, The Funeral Album. We kept the formula of having different types of songs on it. We kept the same formula, exuded the humor and took the concept deeper and deeper. And, as this is the last one, we also wanted to go all the way with everything we came up with in the past, have some references to the past albums, even the first ones. So in that sense, it's a very diverse album; it has a lot of depth and variety in it."

What was the fondest touring memory for you of the whole career?

"I don't remember much from the parties, I can tell you (laughs). But we have great memories from over the years. We have toured with so many great bands and great people. And then again, the last shows are still to be played. And those will probably be the most memorable; I would expect."

And how many shows are there? What is the extent of the touring?

"That is being worked out right now, so I'm not sure yet. But it won't be heavy. Most of them are festivals and stuff like that, some special events. We want to make this last round special in its own way, and to reach as many people as possible, every time that we go on. But yes, there will be maybe 20 shows. But to go back to the past, tours with In Flames, Lacuna Coil, Iced Earth, the first one we did with Tiamat, those are the first one to come to mind, that have earned some very good memories in our minds. The touring was always, more or less, difficult for us. It was always something that we didn't feel home in. But those bands, and the people in the bands made it worthwhile, and helped us bear till the end."

I'm looking forward to this writing career out of you.

"Yeah, I'll see about it; I'm pretty hopeful. I'll just have to see if the publishers feel the same way."