POISONBLACK

As Sentenced fade into the cold white light a new shadow of despair unfolds upon the gloomy Finnish landscape, which is sure to haunt the soul with its somber and melancholic composite. This abundance of sorrow is better known as Poisonblack, who feature ex-Sentenced frontman Ville Laihiala on lead vocals and guitars. The group has returned with its highly anticipated sophomore release, Lust Stained Despair, which is a voracious hard rock assault laden with mesmerizing gothic overtones.

Poisonblack was formed towards the end of 2000 as Laihiala felt the urge to pursue his ambition as a guitarist after playing the instrument on the side for 17 years. This all began to take shape after he got together with a couple of talented close friends with whom he had jammed in various bands before, among them his soulbrother Janne Kukkonen on bass. Both of them not only shared a long history in various bands, but also embrace the same musical vision. J.P. Leppäluoto (Charon) was soon enlisted to handle vocal duties after Laihiala met him back on their Crimson tour. They released their debut album, Escapexstacy, in early 2003 to rave reviews, but the band’s touring would be close to nonexistent due to member’s obligations to their main bands.

During the holiday break of that same year; the band would embark on their first tour with labelmates Lacuna Coil, Moonspell and Passenger but soon after Leppäluoto abruptly announced his decision to quit. After looking for a replacement for quite some time the group figured that only one person could really do the job and that would be Ville Laihiala himself, as he has always written the majority of the music and lyrics. Still, the band went through several line-up changes before finalizing the material for their second album. Laihiala further describes how the new effort came together, “We recorded a good amount of the album in 2005, but after it was mixed and mastered the end result was not really what we were after in terms of sound and attitude. Therefore, we decided to hold it back to live with the material longer and attack the songs again with the right state of mind.”

Poisonblack took the time they needed to finally sound like a tighter unit on album, which definitely translated into their live performance. In the spring of 2006, the band headed back into Tonebox Studio in its hometown of Oulu to complete work on Lust Stained Despair, their next epic. Laihiala states: “We added additional feelings and frustrations to the already existing ones and it’s what the songs required from each individual in order to make us sound as poisonous as we do. All three words in the title, ‘Lust Stained Despair,’ are individually giving a picture, a feeling about the music and lyrics. Enough said.” The effort was mixed and mastered at Antfarm Studios by the acclaimed Tue Madsen (Himsa, The Haunted) and is definitely a must for Amorphis, H.I.M. and Katatonia fans.

Now with Sentenced put to rest Laihiala’s main priority is Poisonblack and with a more focused lineup in place the group are poised to deliver a release that should add a glimmer of hope to an otherwise bleak world.