Sanctum

S

hortly after forming in their hometown of Melbourne, Australia, Sanctum moved to London, England to capitalize on that city's prestige in the global music industry. Their debut 1992 EP, Dimensions Of The Mind, on the 'C.G. Records' label (completed before their departure) featuring the membership of Bradles (bass), Shirty (drums), Darren Cherry (guitars (lead, acoustic)), Marty Howe (guitars (lead)) and Brad Cranwell (vocals), received the coveted "Single of the week" in Kerrang! Magazine by Rob Zombie, who was the guest reviewer of that week. To feed on this newfound fame, Their next goal was to tackle the challenge of finding managers and labels who would be interested. This prompted a return to the studio; the result was the Raped of Your Religion (1993) and Untamed EP (1996) efforts, which gave them gigs in the London area, including a sell-out date at the rock Garden, thus firmly planting them into the underground scene.

Just as the band was on the rise, a deal with 'Music for Nations' deal fell apart, various members would return to Australia; thus ending this line-up.

The new line-up would feature Darren Cherry (guitars (rhythm, lead)/vocals), Mark Susans (bass/vocals (backing)), Tony Holmes (drums) and Simon Gearhart (guitars (rhythm, lead)) and a follow-up was yet again called for and it culminated in the completion of the Absorbed EP (1998), published via 'Fear Family Assassins Records' in a more thrath or even industrial styles of Machine Head, Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth) and their lot, as opposed to their traditional death metal style, then followed. Several thousand units were sold in the UK which helped land them choice gigs with Skinlab, Kill 2 This, Earthtone9 and Pulkas, leaving them to be hailed as "London's Favorite Unsigned Metal Band" by Kerrang! Magazine.