There are at least nine artists with the name Sanctuary:
1. Sanctuary is an American heavy metal band formed in 1985 in Seattle, Washington. The band was inactive between 1992 and 2010. Its line-up has included Lenny Rutledge (guitar), Joseph Michael (vocals), George Hernandez (bass), and Dave Budbill (drums). The lead vocalist position was previously held by Warrel Dane until his death in 2017. Sanctuary has released three studio albums and one live EP.
Although the band did not achieve significant mainstream success, Sanctuary has been cited as an influence within the Seattle hard rock and heavy metal scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, alongside acts such as Mother Love Bone, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Queensrÿche, Metal Church, Fifth Angel, TKO, Culprit, Rail, Forced Entry, and Q5.
Sanctuary was founded by cousins and guitarists Lenny Rutledge and Sean Blosl. The group initially performed cover versions and original compositions before completing its line-up. After Warrel Dane joined as vocalist, the band focused exclusively on original material and recorded its first demo, which received regular airplay on the Seattle college radio station KCMU. When Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performed in Seattle, the band presented him with their demo after the show. Mustaine expressed interest in the material and later agreed to produce their debut album.
Sanctuary subsequently performed several support shows with Megadeth before recording their first album, "Refuge Denied", with Mustaine as producer. Keith Rawls, then manager of Megadeth, also became Sanctuary’s manager and helped the band secure a recording contract with Epic Records. The label remixed the album before its release in 1988. Sanctuary then toured internationally in support of the album, appearing with bands including Megadeth, Warlock, Savatage, Testament, Nuclear Assault, Flotsam and Jetsam, Vio-lence, Fates Warning, Meliah Rage, and Forced Entry.
In 1989 the band entered the studio to record its second album, "Into the Mirror Black", which was released in 1990. A music video for the song "Future Tense" received airplay on the MTV programme "Headbangers Ball". During the tour supporting the album, which included performances with Fates Warning, Morbid Angel, Forbidden, Death Angel, Forced Entry, and Blitzspeer, guitarist Sean Blosl left the band and was replaced by Jeff Loomis.
Following the tour, disagreements arose within the band after Epic Records encouraged them to adapt their sound to the emerging Seattle grunge scene. As a result of these differences, Sanctuary disbanded in 1992. Epic Records had planned to release a full-length live recording from the final tour, but only a limited promotional live EP titled "Into the Mirror Live" was issued. In 2010 "Refuge Denied" and "Into the Mirror Black" were reissued together as a double CD by IronBird Records.
After the break-up, Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard, and Jeff Loomis formed the band Nevermore in 1992. Lenny Rutledge worked as a music producer and operated his own studio. He also contributed to the demo sessions for Nevermore’s 1999 album "Dreaming Neon Black". Nevermore later went on hiatus in April 2011 after releasing seven studio albums.
In 2010 four founding members of Sanctuary—Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard, Lenny Rutledge, and Dave Budbill—reunited for several live performances. Initially planned as a limited series of shows, the reunion led to the band reforming on a more permanent basis. Jeff Loomis participated in some early reunion performances as second guitarist before departing around the same time as his exit from Nevermore. Former Forced Entry guitarist Brad Hull soon joined as a permanent member.
Sanctuary performed at the ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta on 16 September 2011 and appeared at the "70000 Tons of Metal" festival aboard the ship "Majesty of the Seas" in January 2011. In January 2013 the band signed a recording contract with Century Media Records.
The band’s third studio album, "The Year the Sun Died", was completed in June 2014 and released on 14 October 2014 in North America and 6 October 2014 in Europe through Century Media. The album was produced by Zeuss. Songs released in advance of the album included "Arise and Purify", "Exitium (Anthem of the Living)", and the single "Frozen".
In February 2015 Brad Hull left the band. Guitarist Nick Cordle, formerly of Arsis and Arch Enemy, performed with Sanctuary on tour during March and April of that year.
In April 2016 the band indicated that George Hernandez, previously of Panic, had become the new permanent bassist after previously filling in for Jim Sheppard on tour. Around the same period the band discussed plans for a fourth studio album tentatively titled "Dead Again". Sanctuary also announced a compilation of earlier demo recordings titled "Inception".
On 13 December 2017 Warrel Dane died of a heart attack in São Paulo, Brazil, where he had been working on his second solo album. In February and March 2018 Sanctuary toured North America with Iced Earth on a tribute tour to Dane, with Witherfall vocalist Joseph Michael performing lead vocals. Armageddon guitarist Joey Concepcion also joined the touring line-up.
The positive reception to the tour led Lenny Rutledge and Joseph Michael to begin working on demo material with the intention of continuing the band. Former guitarist Sean Blosl died in a traffic collision in Seattle on 26 August 2024 at the age of 58.
Studio albums
Refuge Denied (1988)
Into the Mirror Black (1990)
The Year the Sun Died (2014)
2. Sanctuary is an atmospheric electronic music project by Alex Bober.
3. Sanctuary is a Dutch gothic metal band that performs original material and has also performed cover versions of songs by Epica, Nightwish, and Sonata Arctica.
4. Sanctuary was a thrash metal band from Australia.
5. Sanctuary was a German heavy metal band that released two demo tapes in the mid-1980s before disbanding in 1988.
6. Sanctuary is a Colombian heavy metal band that released a demo tape titled "La Marca Del Mal" in 2008.
7. Sanctuary was a German progressive power metal band. After releasing a self-titled demo, the band changed its name to Deathless Sanctuary in 1990.
8. Sanctuary is the electronic music project of Jonah Smith from Chicago in the United States. The project has also been associated with The Mysterious PXRTY BXYZ and Sensitive Thugs.
9. Sanctuary is a black metal project from the United States that has released three untitled demo recordings, one in 2011 and two in 2012.
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…shrink me down again