After the split of Nevermore, the call for a reunion of Sanctuary got louder and
louder. In 2010 the band started with some gigs in the U.S. and came to Europe
in 2011 playing Wacken and in Greece. A lot of bands stick to playing live again
and never start writing a new album, not Sanctuary. They took the time to write
good songs before releasing this 'The Year the Sun Died'. Their first two albums
'Refuge Denied' and 'Into the Mirror Black' are still two of the best albums of
the eighties and writing a new album is always a risk because fans expect at
least the same quality.
The
main songwriters are of course Lenny Rutledge and Warrel Dane and the last wrote
lyrics with a real concept story. The main character in the story is Leonore, a
prophet preaching the end of the world. The CD will contain a booklet with some
liner notes in between the songs making the story clearer. With Jim Sheppard
(bass) and Dave Budbill (drums) two of the other original members got back on
board. With Brad Hull on guitar the line-up is completed.
Now on to the music. For me it is all I wished for and they have met my high
expectations. Dramatic melodic metal with a lot of melancholy and songs from
slow to mid-tempo to a bit faster. The riffs are great and often have a very
threatening character. The soli on the album are very melodic and there is a lot
of variety. Perhaps there are some metal fans that try to compare the band with
Nevermore, but the only big equality is the voice of Warrel. The last Nevermore
albums had intense riffs, with complex patterns and rather techinical
musicianship. In the Sanctuary songs leave much more room for the fantastic
voice of Warrel, and there is more melody and the guitars sound lower. If you really
want to compare the band with Nevermore, you have to think more of the first
Nevermore album and not what is written later on. Perhaps the solo album of
Warrel (2008) is a better comparison.
The first track "Arise and Purify" starts with a nice thrash sounding riff and
has a contagious melodic refrain, "Let the Serpent Follow Me" continues a bit in
the same tempo, then slows down and again an excellent melodic singing part
follows. "Exitium" is a slower song with a lot of drama and melancholy elements.
"Question Existence Fading" has a real U.S. metal riff and again a slower
singing part. "I Am Low" has a kind of Iced Earth influence and varies accoustic
parts, with some thrash riffing. The album continues on the same high level and
has with "The Dying Age" (with some riffs reminding a bit of Metallica's black
album) and "The Year the Sun Died" two great finishing epic tracks. But before
that the softest track "One Final Day" and one of the heaviest tracks "The World
is Wired" please your ears. It certainly isn't a coincidence that the title
track is the last song of the album. Although all songs are very strong and well
written tracks, all elements that Sanctuary stands for are explored at its best
in that epic song. Just listen to the melodic singing of Warrel and you will be
convinced.
Sanctuary is back and with an album that will please the fans from the eighties
as well as the (early) Nevermore fans. If you like Warrel Dane's solo album he
released in 2008, you can also spend some money to buy one of the best albums of
2014.
