Reviews › The Heavens Shall Burn ›
Lloyd Rust aka Revolution Promotions/DJ Revolution
Do you remember when thrash was thrash,metal was metal and frankly anything else was alternative and too lightweight to bother with? Being old I do, but with an average age of 17, Sanctorum frankly cannot be accused of this. They grew up when Take that were huge and this obviously inspired some kind of terrible metallic rage in their collective souls that they now direct forward in this, their debut album.
The Heavens shall burn, a neatly packaged little beast shortly to be released on Mark Daghorns Rising label (home to the soon to be huge Mendeed, who have been supported by Sanctorum) is a blissful return back to the hoary old days of Obituary, Testament and Slayer. When windmilling was the thing to do and t-shirts never kept their sleeves beyond the venue doors. Sanctorum owe more than a nod to Testament in their "Low" period in my opinion. Growling interspersed by snarls and frankly pant sh*ttingly gutteral vocals for one so young backed up by some ferocious guitar work and awesome drumming. This is not "new" music to be fair but it is a bloody good take on old school "thrash/death" metal in my opinion. There is the odd Maidenesque solo in there too for true 80's die hards and also some attempts at melodic moments although I feel these are in some cases the weaker points. When Sanctorum do let fly such as on second track "Ancient Words" the effects are frankly great. They mean what they do and the music sounds exactly like that. These guys are tortured by the lack of heavy in todays' heavy metal and they are bringing it back.
Stand out tracks are the already mentioned Ancient Words, a real Euro metal stomper, Blood lust (the opening track) another great metal song and elements of Closure also stand a cut above. I cannot help but feel if these boys were based in Holland or Scandinavia they probably would be on the radar of a large Indie label and shifting several truckloads of this debut by now. Their sound is very much of that inclination and is going to appeal to new fans as well as the older generation of thrashers. That does not effect the fact they grew up in Essex and frankly being relatively new to the recording world have sent out a massive bombshell into the metal fraternity.
My only down point came with the more melodic moments of the album which I feel let down the blistering pace and brutal bludgeon of previous tracks. This is no major problem however as these may well appeal to some less metalheaded fans/reviwers! As an experience this is an invaluable exercise for Sanctorum and the first album is always the hardest. Having seen them live almost a year ago it is frightening how much the sound has grown since then. If I know these guys then before long they will spawn a monster! This album is not quite that beast they are looking for but I reckon with a few more live shows and a bit more experience they are a serious threat to the metal world. Sanctorum bring back the death to metal in an age where too many savvy acts are trying to pop it up. This is old school and proud from some of the newest "just left school" guys on the scene. Catch them at a venue near you as I am sure they are soon to be some of Rocks' hottest property and in the mean time pick up this album, it could just re-inspire your faith in metal!
Score wise it gets a 7/10 from me. Excellently presented for a modest budget and pretty well mixed too with a full sound. I like the fact it is slightly raw as that adds to the urgency and underground vibe of this band. It is also more akin to their live sound (frankly punishing if you have ever seen them!) and so gives a more clear picture of their proposed "true" sound in my opinion.
A good buy for those new to Death/thrash and similarly a sound purchase for all those who thought metal had forgotten them. I am sure this will be played at more than one of my hosted nights in the very near future. Sanctorum have a a very dark future!
