\

Band: Sanctum
CD: Demo
Reviewer: Maggot

Review:

"Searching for your Sanctum to avoid the pain," that is from Sanctum, the song and the band. A statement that holds true for me, especially with the band Sanctum. These guys are a four piece band that hail from St. Louis, Mizery and are an all out balls to the wall death metal band. I've seen them play many times and will continue to see them!!!! My only problem with the band goes back to the first statement of this review. Every time i seen them, i was anxiously awaiting something to take home and to listen to from these metal maniacs. Needless to say time and time again, there was no CD, what a pain!!! I kept searching for my Sanctum CD to avoid the pain of going home, time and time again without one. Here it is in all its 4 song glory. Enter if you will a world of witches, revenge from beyond the grave, darkness, and excellent instrumentation. This is Sanctum! The first song on this tour de metal is named "Witch House." Lyrically the song reminds me of a house in my old neighborhood that my buddies and i would dare one another to go into. There was something creepy about the place, something not right. It seemed to suck your soul away just by standing near it. This is a relating story to "Witch House." What i find extremely cool is the way the music goes with the vocals, reminiscent of a King Diamond style minus Diamond's interesting screeching. The music is dark, lurchy and creepy and sends a chill up your spine while following the lyrics. It definitely draws you in and then damn near blows you out of the way with the very surprising shout of "Roarwah" at the end. Well that's at least my spelling of it. The second song is "Sanctum." Probably my favorite little thrashy number on this disk, obviously. Lyrically this one speaks to me besides the above mentioned. It reminds me of those extremely depressed moments of my past. They offer up in the end lyric to "Exist within Sanctum." That for me means to take refuge in the music. Which is the ONLY reason i am alive today. Metal has always been there. Good relationships, bad relationships, suicidal moments, basically my whole life. Metal is my sanctum!!! Lets also not forget the intro music to this song, which reminds me of a Sabbath sortof sound. Whiney guitars that sound like impending doom start this song out before they just starting rocking out. The third song is "The Illusionist." This is the bands shining moment as musicians. As an instrumental it seems to be a tour de force of all the bands influences. I wont even name names but instead challenge you to gave this beautiful work of art a listen and to pick out what you think to be the bands influences. I definitely give this a big fucking HORNS UP to Sanctum for this piece. Last but not least is the final track, "Molly's Grave." Another perfect homage to the art of death metal. It contains a haunting little story of revenge from beyond the grave. This song also contains some sweetly executed guitarmanship!!! I just cant believe that these guys are not signed to a label or even have out a full length, at least not that i am aware of. Ok, i hate to seem contradictory but every song on here is a favorite. Hmmm, im even thrown off by that. Just to sum it up. Sanctum rules!!!! I need more Sanctum songs, this was just a tease for the jones i have been trying to handle for a long while. Never put a number on a CD, if you don't wont people to call you. Cause i will!!!! As far as a rating on this CD, i wish i was an octopus and could give a horns up all the way around!!!!

Close Window
All material on midwestmetal.info are protected by © 2003 copyright law and international treaties. Contact us for further information. Site design by Metamorphosis Designs.