It was the middle of the 80’s when this band blew out of blue and delivered one of the best ever heavy metal album entitled “Refuge Denied”, produced by Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and released in 1987 by Epic Records. Afterward they toured with Megadeth and Warlock.
The band consisted of Warrel Dane (vocals), Lenny Rutledge (guitar), Sean Blosl (guitar), Jim Sheppard (bass) and Dave Budbill (drums), and they were from Seattle – just like another great band of those times, Queensryche. Actually “Refuge Denied” was a deadly explosive mixture of Iron Maiden type of European heavy metal, some subtle Queensryche flavors and power, respectively speed metal grindings. And, not at least, the Warrel Dane type of blood-freezing high pitch screams. It was perfect!
Their second album, “Into the Mirror Black” was released in Europe in 1989, while the US version came out the one year later. “Mirror Black” was a darker, slower, eventually more Queensryche style of progressive metal related album. A video clip for the song “Future Tense” was made and received some airplay on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball. During the tour – with Fates Warning, Forbidden and Death Angel – guitarist Sean Blosl left the band and he was replaced by Jeff Loomis.
Their bad luck was called grunge. That new genre made their hometown more famous then Jimi Hendrix ever did and unfortunately they had a record deal with a major label which over-night wanted to turn them into a Pearl Jam copy. The pressure form the record label and tensions inside the band lead in 1992, Sanctuary to officially disbanded.
But the story actually didn’t ended there. Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard and Jeff Loomis formed a new band called Nevermore in the same year. Dave Budbill lives in Florida, and he is currently the drummer for Alive Inside. Sean Blosl is creating music and film through Golden Flower Media, while Lenny Rutledge became a musical producer, and has his own studio. Lenny actually helped Nevermore on the demo sessions of their 1998 third album, “Dreaming Neon Black”. Read more Sanctuary – The Year The Sun Died (2014)
This is a monstrous trip back to my childhood’s worst nightmares. A journey on the wicked sound of post-dubstep EDM which bring back to life Pumpkinhead, Freddy Krueger and all the vicious mutant monsters and hell resident devils. And FIGURE (aka Josh Gard) knows what make us click, he crafted the most intense mixture of banging rhythms with massive bass drops and delivered once again a bloody sonic butchery!
It’s not a secret, I love the debut effort by Random Being, I have written about it 
Klayton is Celldweller and his – finally – back! Independent artist and producer, personifying the sound of the iPod generation, he creates a hybrid fusion of digital and organic elements: intricately designed soundscapes constructed from Dubstep, Drum & Bass and Electro, woven together with aggressive Rock/Metal and Orchestral elements. Celldweller ignores genre boundaries and creates a pioneering vision of the future of electronic music.
It’s not brain surgery, but only rock’n’roll and it feels good as it is. And probably it’s not much left to say because it’s that type of rock you love it or hate, but if you love it, you will have to play it loud and grab a beer!
Violence. These days are pretty much about violence, no matter if we think about Iraq, Gaza, Ukraine or the United States of America. We can speak about what’s going on in Ferguson, Missouri, or we can look at what happened in Frisco, Texas where a 16-year-old homeschooled teenager shot down both his parents. And – unfortunately – we’ve got plenty of other stories on daily basics each and every day from all over the world.
Rock is dead? I heard that in the 80’s, the 90’s and generally, at least once in a while somebody took that imaginary shovel and start digging that imaginary hole for this genre. And – surprise! – the genre it’s alive, kicking and evolving since the late 40’s.
Kongsberg, a town located at the southern end of the traditional region of Numedal, is perhaps best known for being the home of Norway’s major defence contractor, Kongsberg Gruppen, formerly Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. Two of its well known products were the Kongsberg Colt and the Krag-Jørgensen rifle. The latter was adopted in the late 19th century as the standard army rifle in Denmark, Norway and U.S.A.
Little wicked John is back and although he’s not playing with the matches, he’s guitar it’s on fire! I thought it’s his guitar, but just like that it might be an axe or a rifle as well – after all we’re living some strange and violent times!
