SANCTUARY: 'The Year The Sun Died' Cover Artwork, Track Listing Revealed

Reunited '80s cult metal outfit SANCTUARY will release its comeback album, "The Year The Sun Died", on October 14 in North America and October 6 in Europe via Century Media. Recorded in Seattle at Soundhouse Studios with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (SOULFLY, SHADOWS FALL, HATEBREED, MUNICIPAL WASTE),the CD will feature 11 tracks. There will be a deluxe media book, available exclusively at CM Distro in the United States, which features expanded packaging and the bonus track, a cover of THE DOORS classic "Waiting For The Sun". The vinyl version will come with a CD featuring this bonus track as well. The cover artwork for the album was created by Travis Smith (OPETH, NEVERMORE).

"The Year The Sun Died" track listing

01. Arise And Purify
02. Let The Serpent Follow Me
03. Exitium (Anthem Of The Living)
04. Question Existence Fading
05. I Am Low
06. Frozen
07. One Final Day (Sworn To Believe)
08. The World Is Wired
09. The Dying Age
10. Ad Vitam Aeternam
11. The Year The Sun Died

Comments SANCTUARY singer Warrel Dane: "Now that hell has officially frozen over and the pigs have flown, I can proudly say 'The Year The Sun Died' is finished. The record that nobody thought would ever get here has come in kicking... and yes, there is screaming!

"Working with Zeuss (a.k.a The Commander) was great. He really pushed us all to be better.

"This is a very modern-sounding record with roots still firmly planted in old-school six-string metal and I gotta give him creds for that."

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 the guys changed their minds. Now, some 20 years after they left off, SANCTUARY has continued with its unique mix of U.S. power metal, hard rock and progressive elements.

To complete the lineup, Brad Hull (FORCED ENTRY) is filling in for former guitar player Sean Blosi.

SANCTUARY released the classic albums "Refuge Denied" and "Into The Mirror Black" during its short existence between 1985 and 1992. Following the band's split, Dane and Sheppard formed NEVERMORE.

In a 2012 interview with GetYourRockOut, Dane stated about SANCTUARY's new material: "We've got so much stuff written that it's hard to sort through, but we played two new songs [at the 2012 edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival]. We played the one ballad, it's called 'I Am Low', and we played another one called 'The World Is Wired'. Some of the other stuff is a little heavier, but those songs, I think, are… Sometimes the stuff that isn't as heavy is stronger, so that's why we picked those."

He added, "I don't think anybody is gonna be disappointed, because I am involved in the creative process and I know what's going on and I know where we're going and I know it's gonna be killer."

Regarding how SANCTUARY's reformation 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. And when the whole thing came about, that we were actually friends again, that's when we started talking more about doing it. And 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. And then we started saying, 'Well, gosh, let's make music again.' And 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 SANCTUARY's upcoming studio 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 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."

SANCTUARY's current lineup:

Warrel Dane - Vocals
Lenny Rutledge - Guitar
Brad Hull - Guitars
Jim Sheppard - Bass
Dave Budbill - Drums

Photo credit: Patrick Häberli

"The World Is Wired" (new song) 2012 performance:

"I Am Low" (new song) 2012 performance: