SENTENCED have announced that their forthcoming studio album, The Funeral Album, will be the band’s last. Guitarist Sami Lopakka issued the following statement on behalf of the band:

“We’d better put this out in the open before you hear it somewhere else. The title of the new album is The Funeral Album, and with it, we, SENTENCED, are coming to the end of our road. This album will be our last. The decision is mutual, thoroughly thought out and final.

“Metaphorically speaking, this is a mass suicide of five, and the new album is the kind of note we want to leave behind, a one-last-time-around-for-goodbyes. The decision was made during 2004, and the reasons are many; however, I don’t feel any need to go into details here. I will say that everyone will walk away as friends. In my eyes, we are not even splitting up, just ending our recording career together, and there is a major difference between the two. Our wish was always to go out with style and at the peak of our so-called success. I think with The Funeral Album, we will do exactly that.

“Once the album is released, there will be an undefined number of farewell shows, when, where and how many, at this point, remain undetermined. Intense and long touring will unfortunately not follow, and most of these shows will take place at festivals where all at once we can reach as many people as possible. At the moment it seems that all of these ‘funeral shows’ will be in Europe. If everything goes as planned, we will also make a live DVD out of these last shows, which will also include footage from the past, not to mention all the music videos we have made over the years. The working title for the DVD is Buried Alive, and after that SENTENCED will be no more. THIS IS IT: There will not be a reunion, comeback or any other pathetic soap opera-esque circus that seems to be the fashion these days. SENTENCED will rest in peace. We will make the most out of the band’s last year, and hope you will all join us.”