Sanctuary

I

t was in 1985 when Sanctuary was formed by Warrel Dane (vocals), Lenny Rutledge (guitar/vocals), Sean Blosl (guitar/vocals), Jim Sheppard (bass) and Dave Budbill (drums/vocals). Securing the patronage of Megadeth's Dave Mustaine by handing him a demo backstage would end off assisting greatly in their singing to 'Epic'. Mustaine also contributing to the production of their debut 1988 album Refuge Denied, an album of classy power/thrash metal that got them notice but little acclaim for the album proved to be a basic run-of-the-mill affair, despite their powerful performance touring with Megadeth. The follow-up 1990 effort Into the Mirror Black was an improvement but still failed to advance their career and they split two years after the follow-up EP, Into the Mirror Live / Black Reflections (1990) due to differences between the members. Dane and Sheppard would go on to form the more successful Nevermore.

In 2010 the band reunited to release The Year the Sun Died (2014) under the membership of Jim Sheppard (bass), Dave Budbill (drums), Lenny Rutledge (guitars), Warrel Dane (R.I.P. 2017; vocals) and Brad Hull (guitars; between stints with Forced Entry). The compilation, Inception (2017) followed. George Hernandez took bass and Joseph Michael then took vocals in 2016 & 2018 respectively.