Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Sanctuary
Label: Century Media
Release: year_month
Length: 53:33
Rating: 3.5/5
It almost feels like, these past few years, bands coming back after ten-plus years away and cutting come-back albums has turned into a proper competition. The motive doesn’t even matter, whether it’s money, a midlife crisis, picking up where a too-early breakup left off, or just a sincere itch to make music. Either way, it’s great that the younger generations (us included) get the chance to see live the bands we only got to enjoy on tape/CD/vinyl/mp3 until recently. Even better is that these bands prove there’s still plenty left unsaid and that quality has stayed priority number one. Want proof? Carcass, Gorguts, Cynic, Forbidden, and this year At the Gates (ok, every now and then an Illud Divinum Insanus happens too, but luckily the exception doesn’t prove the rule). A good month ago they were joined by the big comeback kids of the American school of power metal, Sanctuary, whose swan song Into the Mirror Black came out a solid twenty-five years ago. So the question is totally fair: did Sanctuary, like some of the bands listed above, manage to break that quarter-century silence?
The answer is yes and no. Sanctuary in the 21st century sound pretty Nevermore-ish, which, considering the way that Seattle outfit self-destructed far too soon (and that Warrel Dane and Jim Sheppard were part of it from the very start), isn’t all that unexpected. Those who were hoping The Year the Sun Died would be a direct follow-up to the cult duo Refuge Denied/Into the Mirror Black are going to be let down. Sure, Sanctuary haven’t completely shed their trademark sound on the new record, but the album mostly sticks to a formula you’d best place somewhere between Nevermore with a whiff of Dane’s solo record and the odd Sanctuary outburst. Not bad at all, but something quite different from what you’d expect.
This time around Sanctuary sound modern, as befits the times, and the epic power/thrash has been swapped for slower, darker thrash with a heavily emphasized groove element. Most of the tracks also stay in mid-gear tempo-wise, and there are fewer of the solo excursions we were used to from the band’s first incarnation. The riffs from the Lenny Rutledge/Brad Hull duo are nothing earth-shattering, and in places they actually come off a little dry. Elsewhere, though, the guitar-harmony duel wizardry comes bubbling back up in all its spectacular glory (e.g. Frozen, which most strongly recalls the Into the Mirror Black era of the band). And that’s exactly the biggest weakness of The Year the Sun Died – a noticeable swing in the quality of the tracks. On one side you’ve got some devilishly good crushing parts, like the strong opening stampede Arise And Purify, plus Question Existence Fading and above all the centerpiece gem that most strongly recalls the golden days of Sanctuary, Frozen. On the other side there’s no shortage of boring, monotonous moments like Let the Serpent Follow Me, The World Is Wired and The Dying Age. Wedged in between them, Sanctuary cram some very convincing ballad moments with darkness practically seeping out of them (I Am Low, The Year the Sun Died), but they remind you more of Dead Heart In a Dead World than of anything like Veil of Disguise.
Dane’s Halford-style screaming is also just a sample this time around (minimal doses in Arise and Purify, Let the Serpent Follow Me), but his performance is outstanding, and his trademark deep baritone is the main carrier of the dark, apocalyptically suffocating mood that runs through the whole album. Dane obviously knows his vocal range is somewhat more limited, and most likely for that reason he plays it safe in the mid-range, which he has down cold, but at the same time he starts repeating himself and sounding one-dimensional (funny, since live he’s already proven he can still scream pretty damn well straight from the vocal cords). A shame, because Dane once again sets the gray emotions of his »thought-provoking« lyrics to music brilliantly.
Despite quite a few flaws, The Year the Sun Died is a solid, actually good record. With it, Sanctuary stepped into the twenty-first century and still proved they haven’t lost their charm, even if it’s a totally different one now. Only difference being, this time they may end up closer to the hearts of those of us who miss Nevermore than to Sanctuary fans.
Sanctuary will play at the mini-fest Day of Metal on March 10, 2015, at Ljubljana’s Kino Šiška!
Lineup
Warrel Dane – vocals
Lenny Rutledge – guitar
Jim Sheppard – bass
Brad Hull – guitar
Dave Budbill – drums
Production
Chris “Zeuss” Harris
Tracklist
1. Arise And Purify
2. Let the Serpent Flow
3. Exitium (Anthem of the Living)
4. Question Existence Fading
5. I Am Low
6. Frozen
7. One Final Day (Sworn to Believe)
8. The World Is Wired
9. The Dying Age
10. Ad Vitam Aeternam
11. The Year the Sun Died
12. Waiting For the Sun
