Sanctum

I don’t often do that, but I crossed the internet for reviews of this cd before I ordered it. It seemed that it has a progressive sound and many people only started to like it after a few rounds in the player. I have heard it a few times, but for most songs I liked this cd the first time already. The ‘Sanctum-sound’ remained in a way. They have a dramatic industrial sound, but there are no tranquil tracks as on their debut. In fact, this new cd is ‘even’ somewhat louder than “New York City Bluster”. The sound is indeed unlike other industrial bands, but “Let’s Eat” does (in my opinion) not bring something entirely new, it is mostly like “New York City Bluster”. Still I am glad that there are still bands trying to make something not too casual and the result we have here is certainly one of the better industrial releases of late.

After a contribution to the 1995 compilation “And Even The Wolves…” Sanctum became (with Arcana) one of the most asked after new signings of the cultlabel Cold Meat Industry from Sweden. In the next year the debut cd was released. However the music of Sanctum was not really like most other releases of this label, Sanctum was by many regarded as the best band on CMI. The music on “Lupus In Fabula” is best described as heavenly industrial. Softer and harder industrial with a lot of orchestral influences, but most strikingly: the magnificent vocals of Marika Ljungberg. Another thing with which Sanctum differs from other CMI-acts is that they like to play live and do that a lot. This was mostly proven on the CMI-festival in Erlangen (Germany) in the summer of 1996 where their show stood with head and shoulders above the rest. This show did much good to their ‘status’.
After this it had been silent until the CMI 10-years-aniversary-compilation-cd “The Absolute Supper” on which Sactum’s contribution showed some differences between the style on the cd. That this was a new direction was proven by the 1998 10″ “The Answer To His Riddle” which was fairly harsch.
Now we are two years further and here is a new ‘Sanctum’ album. Sanctum between ”’s, because there is a story to this cd.
Sanctum was asked to come and play in the States at a few occasions and do a show for a small tv-station. A promotional tour so to say. Unfortunately Marika and Lena were unable to join Jan and Håkan who went without the ladies. They decided to do a “cross-over” between their different projects, so “New York City Bluster” does not only contain live-material, but not only of Sanctum either. Therefor this cd is not really representative for the sound of Sanctum.
The first two tracks are new Sanctum tracks which follow up “The Answer…” really well. From “Lupus In Fabula” you will hear “Decay”and “In Two Minds”. Further there is a large part of the “Parca Pace” solo cd of Jan Carleklev which was released at the end of 1999 on Flaming Fish Music (see elsewhere in these pages) . Parca Pace stands for triballic industrial. Track 6 is “a step in the world of Mago” which I think is a project of Håkan Paulssen. This track is quite noisy industrial of style. Next up is a song originally written for a dance-performance and is actually one of the least-rhythmical tracks of the album. It opens very orchestral (almost neo-classical), but has an industrial end again. The last track is a piece of noise.
Throughout the whole album, the vocals of Jan are distorted more than we are used to.
All in all it is a pretty nice cd, but I think it is a little misleading to release it under the monicker “Sanctum”.