Cold White Light
Alongside their swashbuckling countrymen in Amorphis, the Finnish band Sentenced have long abandoned their death-metal roots in search of a less punishing approach. This conversion doesn't earn any points with the diehards, but raises the question: Why shouldn't metal bands create radio-friendly, textured melodies? Sentenced mixes heavy-metal strychnine with the saccharine sweetness of pop and comes up with a fetching formula that's still 10 times dirtier thanCreed. After all, Sentenced is merely saucing up ballads likeBlack Sabbath's "Changes,"Judas Priest's "Last Rose of Summer," andIron Maiden's "Strange World." Like it or not, schmaltz is part of heavy metal, and Sentenced pulls it off with Scandinavian poise.--Ian Christe