Sanctuary is: Joseph Michael (Vocals)
Lenny Rutledge (Guitar)
George Hernandez (Bass)
Dave Budbill (Drums).

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

Near destruction—most of it hideously self-inflicted—has a way of giving birth to something new. Well, not entirely. With Loomis out of the picture, Sanctuary slowly picked up its guts and brains from the proverbial floor. Dane victoriously exorcised his long-storied drug and alcohol demons—“All the drug shit is way behind me. It was my impetuous youth syndrome gone to a very real extreme.”— Reformed and reenergized we kicked off repeated waves of introspection and, of course, songwriting. What started out with a song called ‘One Final Day’—and ended up with a full-length album.

“It’s definitely different,” Rutledge offers. “Production-wise, it’s far and away better. There are a lot of different things on the record. Fast, upbeat songs, similar to songs from Into the Mirror Black. We also have some slow, moodier songs too. It feels pretty close to a natural progression from Into the Mirror Black.”

Titled The Year the Sun Died, Sanctuary’s long-awaited third album simultaneously burns barns and expands heads. Songs like ‘Arise And Purify’, ‘Exitium (Anthem Of The Living)’, and ‘The World Is Wired’ recall the early ‘90s but are stunningly modern in sound and vision. The Doors cover ‘Waiting for the Sun’ is a nod to late ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll and Sanctuary’s own brave heart rendition of ‘White Rabbit’. Recorded at Soundhouse Studios in Seattle and Metal Camp studio in North Bend with Zeuss (aka Chris Harris), The Year the Sun Died proves Sanctuary boldly lives on to fight another day. Not on the beersplattered floor of a roadies’ house, but on the biggest of world stages. “It sounds like a grown up Sanctuary,” promises Rutledge. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but I hope our audience has grown up with us. If you’re only expecting Refuge Denied part 2, you’re going to be disappointed. That was a slice in time for us. We’re pretty comfortable with how the record came out.”

Both of Dane and Rutledge are right. The Year the Sun Died is Sanctuary matured and heavier than Bill Gates’ bank account. For that, we all—young and old—can be thankful Seattle’s finest has returned. Stronger than ever.