Sanctuary

About this event

40 YEARS OF SANCTUARY SANCTUARY quickly became a key part of the city’s influential heavy metal scene. The band’s sound, centered on the distinctive high-pitched vocals of the late Warrel Dane and established them as a prominent force. Their debut album, Refuge Denied (1988), was notably produced by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, helping to launch the band into the global metal consciousness., Sanctuary gathered supporters all around the globe, upping the ante considerably when unleashing the darker, more refined masterpiece that is “Into the Mirror Black” in 1990. While the grunge-style brought the band’s commercial career to an unfortunate halt, the end of the band’s first phase meant the rise of Nevermore who released several much-acclaimed albums via Century Media Records between 1995 and 2010. In 2011, Sanctuary reformed and celebrated their live comeback, performed at high profile festivals such as Wacken, Metalcamp, Bloodstock and 70K Tons Of Metal cruise. In 2014 they released “The Year The Sun Died” and landed at #39 in the German charts. In 2017, the restored and remixed 1986 demo recordings were released as the historical “Inception” release, which charted on #53 in Germany. On December 13th, 2017, vocalist Warrel Dane tragically passed away. The band initially embarked on a tribute tour, recruiting Witherfall singer Joseph Michael to fill the vocal spot. The reaction to Michael’s performances was very positive and the band chose to continue with the focus shifting to new material. The band is aiming to deliver a unique sound that remains familiar to die-hard fans. The current lineup of Sanctuary includes Joseph Michael on vocals, alongside original members Lenny Rutledge (guitars) and Dave Budbill (drums), and George Hernandez on bass. Sanctuary has, and always will be a two guitar band and will have a second guitar player for all upcoming live shows. You can catch the band performing special sets of Refuge Denied or Into The Mirror Black at festivals