Sanctuary (band)
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Sanctuary is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1985 in Seattle. The band broke up from 1992 to 2010. The band consists of Lenny Rutledge (guitar), Joseph Michael (vocals), George Hernandez (bass), and Dave Budbill (drums). The lead vocalist position was held by Warrel Dane until his death in 2017. They have released three studio albums and one live EP.
Despite never reaching mainstream success, Sanctuary is often credited for popularizing the 1980s and early 1990s Seattle hard rock and heavy metal scene, which spawned bands including Mother Love Bone, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Queensrÿche, Metal Church, Fifth Angel, TKO, Culprit, Rail, Forced Entry, and Q5.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Initial career (1985–1992)
Sanctuary was founded by cousins and guitarists Lenny Rutledge and Sean Blosl.<ref name="demolishmagint1987">Template:Cite interview</ref> The band began playing covers and original songs until their line-up was complete. After singer Warrel Dane had joined, Sanctuary played only original songs and recorded their first demo, which received prominent airplay for a year on college radio station KCMU. When singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine played a concert with his band Megadeth in Seattle, the band were able to present the demo to Mustaine after the show in his hotel room. Mustaine liked it and promised to produce the band.<ref name="demolishmagint1987"/>
Afterwards, Sanctuary played a few support shows for Megadeth and then recorded Refuge Denied with Mustaine as producer. Keith Rawls, Megadeth's then-manager, who became Sanctuary's manager as well, contacted record companies and finally secured a deal with Epic Records.<ref name="demolishmagint1987"/> The label remixed the debut album and released it in 1988. Sanctuary then toured worldwide in support of the album, playing with bands including Megadeth, Warlock, Savatage, Testament, Nuclear Assault, Flotsam and Jetsam, Vio-lence, Fates Warning, Meliah Rage, and Forced Entry.<ref name="metallipromo">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1989, after the Refuge Denied tour ended, Sanctuary entered the studio to record their second studio album, Into the Mirror Black, which was released in 1990.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A video clip for the song "Future Tense" was made and received some airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball. While touring in support of the album (with bands including Fates Warning, Morbid Angel, Forbidden, Death Angel, Forced Entry and Blitzspeer),<ref name="metallipromo" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> guitarist Sean Blosl left the band and was replaced by Jeff Loomis.
Shortly after, pressure from Epic Records to fit in with the flourishing Seattle grunge scene caused disagreements between band members regarding the band's musical direction. In 1992, Sanctuary officially disbanded. Epic Records was to release a full-length live recording from this final tour, but only a limited number of copies of a promotional live EP ever saw the light of day. It was named Into the Mirror Live. Refuge Denied and Into the Mirror Black were re-released as a double CD set by IronBird Records on February 22, 2010.
Post-breakup (1992–2010)
After disbanding, Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard, and Jeff Loomis formed the band Nevermore in 1992. Lenny Rutledge became a musical producer and has his own studio. Additionally, he helped Nevermore on the demo sessions of their 1998 album, Dreaming Neon Black. Nevermore eventually went on hiatus in April 2011 after 19 years and seven studio albums.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Reunion and The Year the Sun Died (2010–2015)
In 2010, four of the founding Sanctuary members — Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard, Lenny Rutledge, and Dave Budbill—came together for a few select reunion performances. At first, it was just going to be a handful of shows, but the response and chemistry on stage was so overwhelming that they decided to reunite permanently. The band's first shows after included Jeff Loomis as a second guitarist, though he departed simultaneously to his departure from Nevermore. Former Forced Entry guitarist Brad Hull, who had earlier touring experience with the band, became a permanent member shortly after.
They had a concert at ProgPower USA in Atlanta on September 16, 2011. The band also played on the 70000 Tons of Metal festival on board Royal Caribbeans' Majesty of the Seas in January 2011 on the same date as Nevermore. In January 2013 Sanctuary got a deal with Century Media.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Regarding how the reunion came about, Dane told Rock My Monkey TV, "[Sanctuary guitarist Lenny Rutledge and I] always talked to each other, but never really been friends again... when the whole thing came about, that we were actually friends again, that's when we started talking more about doing it... it definitely wasn't because Nevermore was imploding... which it was, at that point... We all just started talking with each other again. That was kind of the groundwork for it... then we started saying, 'Well, gosh, let's make music again.' ... my God! Lenny is writing some stuff that is so friggin great! Obviously, he's been bottling this up for years, because he really hasn't been doing anything ... Well, he's had bands here and there. But he's really writing some great stuff that's really inspiring me, and making me fall in love with music again, with the creative process ... everything that revolves around that. Really inspiring me to write really evil lyrics."
On the topic of the sound of the comeback album, Dane said, "This record is not going to sound like the other two. It might sound very similar to the second one ('Into The Mirror Black'). It's definitely not going to sound like the first one, because we're all a little bit older and I can't come up with a c-clamp for a scrotum and a helium tank... It's not going to sound like the old ones... it's 2011. It's still gonna be that good, I think, and there's gonna be high-pitched screaming. I'm making sure of that. With Nevermore, high-pitched screaming was never really called for. You know, with Sanctuary... of course it is."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The band's third studio album, The Year the Sun Died, was finished in June 2014<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and released on October 14 in North America and October 6 in Europe via Century Media. It was produced by Zeuss. The track listing was revealed in August 2014 and the album's artwork and a song "Arise and Purify" was made available.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A lyric video for "Exitium (Anthem of the Living)" was released shortly thereafter, with the video for single "Frozen" debuting on October 7. Three songs on the album featured Dane's trademark high-pitched vocals, although the majority of the singing was more in line with the baritone and bass vocals which were featured prominently in Nevermore.
In February 2015, Brad Hull's departure was announced, with guitarist Nick Cordle, formerly of Arsis and Arch Enemy, filling in for March and April tour dates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Warrel Dane said the split with Brad Hull was due to "personal things that happened", that are better not to discuss in public, but said they are still friends. Zeuss [a.k.a. Chris Harris], their producer for "The Year the Sun Died", recruited Nick Cordle for the band when they found out Brad Hull would not be doing the European tour, since canceling the tour was not an option.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Dead Again and Inception (2015–2017)
Asked in October 2015 if Sanctuary had been writing new material for a fourth album, frontman Warrel Dane replied,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Centered pull quote
Pictures posted on the band's Facebook page on April 22, 2016, included a reference to ex-Panic bassist George Hernandez, who had filled in for Sheppard on tour the previous year, as the band's new permanent bassist.
In another interview by September 2016 Dane revealed Dead Again as a tentative title for the new album. He said that it would come "next year, but late next year". Dane described the material as "way faster and more like old-school thrash metal, but sounding a bit modern and it's __ heavy." He also announced the compilation of old demos and songs named Inception, which could arrive "in a few months".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Death of Warrel Dane and the future of the band (2017–present)
On December 13, 2017, it was reported that Dane had died of a heart attack in São Paulo, Brazil where he was recording his second solo album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The band toured North America with Iced Earth in February and March 2018 for a tribute to Dane tour with Witherfall vocalist Joseph Michael filling in on vocals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Armageddon guitarist Joey Concepcion of Milford, Connecticut joined the tour on guitar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The tour was well-received, prompting Rutledge and Michael to begin working on demos to potentially continue the band.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Former guitarist Sean Blosl died in a traffic collision in Seattle, on August 26, 2024, at the age of 58.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Members
Current members
- Lenny Rutledge – guitars (1985–1992, 2010–present)
- Dave Budbill – drums (1985–1992, 2010–present)
- George Hernandez – bass (2016–present; touring member: 2014–2016)
- Joseph Michael – vocals (2018–present)
Former members
- Warrel Dane – vocals (1985–1992, 2010–2017; his death)
- Jim Sheppard – bass (1985–1992, 2010–2016)
- Sean Blosl – guitars (1985–1990, died 2024)
- Jeff Loomis – guitars (1990–1992, 2010–2011)
- Brad Hull – guitars (2011–2015)
- Nick Cordle – guitars (2015–2016)
- Attila Vörös – guitars (2017, 2020)
- Joey Concepcion – guitars (2018–2020)
Timeline
<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:110 top:10 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1985 till:{{#time:m/d/Y}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1985 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1985
Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:lines value:black legend:Studio_Album
LineData =
at:01/01/1988 color:black layer:back at:02/27/1990 color:black layer:back at:10/06/2014 color:black layer:back
BarData =
bar:Dane text:"Warrel Dane" bar:Joseph text:"Joseph Michael" bar:Rutledge text:"Lenny Rutledge" bar:Blosl text:"Sean Blosl" bar:Loomis text:"Jeff Loomis" bar:Hull text:"Brad Hull" bar:Cordle text:"Nick Cordle" bar:Vörös text:"Attila Vörös" bar:Joey text:"Joey Conception" bar:Sheppard text:"Jim Sheppard" bar:Furtner text:"Rich Furtner" bar:Hernandez text:"George Hernandez" bar:Budbill text:"Dave Budbill"
PlotData=
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Dane from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1992 color:vocals bar:Dane from:01/01/2010 till:12/13/2017 color:vocals bar:Joseph from:01/12/2018 till:end color:vocals bar:Rutledge from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1992 color:guitar bar:Rutledge from:01/01/2010 till:end color:guitar bar:Sheppard from:01/01/1985 till:05/31/1986 color:bass bar:Furtner from:06/01/1986 till:12/31/1986 color:bass bar:Sheppard from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/1992 color:bass bar:Sheppard from:01/01/2010 till:05/31/2016 color:bass bar:Hernandez from:05/31/2016 till:end color:bass bar:Blosl from:01/01/1985 till:04/01/1990 color:guitar bar:Budbill from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1992 color:drums bar:Budbill from:01/01/2010 till:end color:drums bar:Loomis from:04/01/1990 till:01/01/1992 color:guitar bar:Loomis from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 color:guitar bar:Hull from:01/01/2011 till:02/01/2015 color:guitar bar:Cordle from:02/01/2015 till:01/06/2017 color:guitar bar:Vörös from:01/06/2017 till:12/13/2017 color:guitar bar:Joey from:12/14/2017 till:03/05/2020 color:guitar
</timeline>
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
AUT <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
BEL (FL) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
BEL (WA) <ref name="BEL (WA)">Template:Cite web</ref> |
GER <ref name="GER">Template:Cite web</ref> |
NLD <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
SWI <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |||
| Refuge Denied |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Into the Mirror Black |
|
— | 97 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| The Year the Sun Died |
|
125 | 75 | 143 | 183 | 39 | 83 | 69 |
|
Live albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Into the Mirror Live |
|
Compilations
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (WA) <ref name="BEL (WA)"/> |
GER <ref name="GER"/> | ||
| Inception<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
|
124 | 53 |