Metal Overview: Sanctuary

The first metal overview of 2024 fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

At the beginning of this month, I made my first ever Music Overview, taking a look at the 90s relic Scatman John. I hope it was a big hit, and maybe I’ll do more of them in the future. However, we have to get to the metal, and the band in today’s overview is rather unique. The first time that my friend Al actually got one over on me, what he didn’t know was that a seed was planted that day, and the resulting plant that grew from the ground is one I continue to water to this day. They might not have been a metallic titan, they none the less were a respectful force when they first emerged, and still manages to have a sizable fanbase to this day! So everyone, let’s dive into the discography of the Thrash/Power Metal band Sanctuary, and see what they’re all about. Let’s begin!  

Refuge Denied (1988)

Our story begins in 1985. Guitarists Lenny Rutledge & Sean Blosl, bassist Jim Sheppard, drummer Dave Budbill, and legendary vocalist Warrel Dane all got together to record a demo. Not long after the demo, Lenny had actually managed to get in contact with singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine after a Megadeth show. Dave expressed interest in the demo, and also expressed interest in being the band’s producer. Dave’s manager, Keith Rawls, financed the recording of their next release, and finally became Sanctuary's manager. After a few talks with some record labels, they would ultimately sign up with Epic Records, and on the 26th of April in 1988, Refuge Denied was released.  

Sales for Refuge Denied were exceptionally low upon it’s release, as it initially sold just 7,000 vinyl records. By June of 2011 however , it would go on to have sold over 200,000 copies. The record in 2010 would be re-release alongside it’s 1990 successor (More on that in a bit) by the reissue label IronBird (via Cherry Red), and in 2016 the track Battle Angels was featured in the 4th episode of the Netflix series The OA.

Best Track? White Rabbit was the song that my friend Al got the one up on me with, and by extent opened the door for me to get into this band. A cover of the classic Grace Slick song, this version is considerably darker in nature, and scraps most of the “High” feelings for something more akin to that of a nightmare. Warren Dane’s voice is exceptionally creepy in this track, as it comes across like something crawling all over your body, or that of a banshee when he gets really loud. The instrumentation just adds to this overall dark feeling, yet it doesn’t go soft, and thus the intensity stays strong.

White Rabbit

Worst Track? Nothing! Refuge Denied from top to bottom is a lovely piece of Thrash Metal Cheesecake, and one that’s still spoken about to this day. Despite not selling a ton upon it’s initial release back in 88, it was a damn fine way to emerge onto the Heavy Metal scene. At a time where the genre was moving out of the commercial spotlight, it was nice to see the end of the decade go down swinging. Next album!

Into The Mirror Black (1990)

After the tour for Refuge Denied ended, Sanctuary went right back into the studio to record their next album, and on the 27th of February, 1990, Into The Mirror Black. A video for the album’s opener Future Tense was made, and actually got some airtime on Headbanger’s Ball. While they were touring for the record alongside bands like Fates Warning & Morbid Angel, guitarist Sean Blosl left the band, and he would be replaced by Jeff Loomis.

Into The Mirror Black had a bit more success when compared to Refuge Denied, selling 34,000 copies worldwide for it’s first week. On the 9th of October in 2020, Century Media Records re-released the album for it’s 30th anniversary. This edition has three additional studio demos, as well as a live album that was originally released in pieces on the promotional EP Into The Mirror Live / Black Reflections.

Best Track? One More Murder was a surprise to me. When I first saw the track title, I expected it to be a bloody & gory tune about a serial killer stalking one last target, but instead it turns into an incredibly poignant political commentary song. There’s a reference to the Gulf War, death by drugs, and what I can only assume is dying in the street due to said drugs alongside gang violence. It’s pretty potent subject matter, with some of it still being unfortunately relevant here in 2024.  

One More Murder

Worst Track? Kind of like Zeit from Rammstein, there’s just something off about Into The Mirror Black.....but I don’t know what it is. Just when I think I located the problem, it goes away into another part of the record, but runs away again when I zero in on it. It’s incredibly frustrating to try & figure out what’s up, yet it doesn’t impact the listening experience as much as I’m making it out to.

Into The Mirror Black. Not in the spotlight as much as Refuge Denied, and something about the record is wrong, but it still happens to be fantastic to listen to. Next album!

The Year The Sun Died (2014)

I find it rather ironic that in 2024, with every awful thing that’s happened so far, I’m listening to an album named The Year The Sun Died. Released on the 6th of October, 2014, the release would come after the band was disbanded for nearly 20 years! After the tour for Into The Mirror Black, there was incredible pressure from Epic Records to try and being more like the newly emerging Seattle Grunge scene, which caused disagreements between band members regarding how the band should move forward, and in 1992 they decided to split. Ironically enough from around this time, Epic Records was to release Into The Mirror Live, which was a live recording of Sanctuary’s final tour, but only a limited amount of a promo version ever saw the light of day, and is an interesting story in it’s own right.

However, all was not lost. In 1992, Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard and Jeff Loomis would form the band Nevermore, and former Sanctuary guitarist Lenny Rutledge would be the band’s producer (He had his own studio). Fast forward to 2010, and Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard, Lenny Rutledge and Dave Budbill got back together for a few select reunion performances. At first the reunion shows were all they wanted to do, but a mix of the on-stage chemistry & response from fans was so immense that they decided to go back into the studio on February the 2nd to record, and the rest is history.

Best Track? The Year The Sun Died the song is an incredibly apocalyptic track. Placed at the very end of the album, and perhaps because of it’s position on the record, there’s this buildup throughout everything before, and when you get to this tune everything just explodes. Ironic, since it’s slower-paced, but the quality is just fantastic. Not only that, but Warrel Dane’s richer voice really shines here, and when he’s been nothing but a great singer across this whole release that’s saying something!

The Year The Sun Died

Worst Track? Like the last 2 releases, there’s not a single track on this album that sucks. Sanctuary has always been a consistent level when it comes to quality, but if there was one thing that surprised me, it would be that The Year The Sun Died is surprisingly dark in nature. Not on the level like Obsidian from Paradise Lost & Tapping The Vein from Sodom, but in it’s own right is oddly depressing in places. Sanctuary aren’t a warm & fuzzy band by any means, but this release does make Refuge Denied & Into The Mirror Black look like a picnic on a warm summer day.

The Year The Sun Died. Darker when compared to their last 2 records, it still manages to be a well-made and powerful release, and it never loses the entertainment value. If you like this band back in the day but wanted them to be more modern when it came to recording & production, then you’ll easily love this. Next album!

Inception (2017)

Taken from Wikipedia:

“Inception is a compilation album by American heavy metal band Sanctuary, released on February 24, 2017, through Century Media. A prequel to the band's 1988 debut album Refuge Denied, the album contains remixed and remastered lost studio recordings from 1986. This is Sanctuary's final release with vocalist Warrel Dane, who died of a heart attack on December 13, 2017”

Olivier Badin of Terrorizer magazine rated Inception moderately positive, writing, "Zeuss' careful remastering job here has leased a new sense of life to these early versions. And even with a then 25-year-old Warrel Dane in pure Rob Halford mode and a very mid-'80s power/thrash style, this doesn't sound dated at all and even actually has a sense of urgency its second version lacked." He concluded his review with, "With 'Refuge Denied' hard to get these days, it's a win-win situation."

Best Track? The demo version of White Rabbit is just absolutely creepy if you ask me! A little bit shorter than the final version (2 minutes & 36 seconds compared to 3 minutes & 10 seconds), it still manages to have a “Nightmare” vibe. Maybe even more so here, thanks to the rougher audio quality of it’s demo nature. Don’t skip this track!

White Rabbit (Demo)

Worst Track? Even as a collection of demos, Inception doesn’t have a single bad song! That being said, these are demos, and as such their sound quality can be rough in places. If there was one issue I could say about the nature of the demos, and maybe it was just me hearing things incorrectly, but I could have sworn that some of the songs sounded a little more remastered than others. Again, it might have just been my imagination, but I could swear that a couple tracks sounded better than the rest.

Inception. A great relic of the band’s past, but maybe it needed just a little extra polish before it came out. Still, it was nice that Sanctuary was able to release one final album with everybody together, as on the 13th of December in 2017, Warrel Dane died of a heart attack while he was in  São Paulo, Brazil recording his second solo album. Still, this vision of the past was quite the welcome one, and as a way for the classic lineup to reluctantly bow out on, it was a good one.

And that was my look at Sanctuary. A band that sadly was all too brief in the metal world, yet the fans that loved them still linger to this day. So, I’m taking a break for a little bit, but I’ll come back in a week or two for my annual Katsucon review. See you then!


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If you’re curious about listening to these albums, click on the links below:

Refuge Denied

Into The Mirror Black

The Year The Sun Died

Inception