Sanctuary

Sanctuary is a US heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1985 by cousins and guitarists Lenny Rutledge and Sean Blosl. The band plays heavy metal, power metal, progressive metal and thrash metal. Its line-up has included Rutledge, Blosl, Warrel Dane on vocals, Jim Sheppard on bass, Jeff Loomis and later Brad Hull and Nick Cordle on guitar, and George Hernandez on bass, with Dave Budbill on drums.

The group first performs cover versions and original songs before settling on original material after Dane joins as vocalist. Its first demo receives airplay on Seattle college radio station KCMU and attracts the attention of Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, who produces the band’s debut album. Sanctuary signs to Epic Records and releases Refuge Denied in 1988, then tours internationally with acts including Megadeth, Warlock, Savatage, Testament, Nuclear Assault, Flotsam and Jetsam, Vio-lence, Fates Warning, Meliah Rage and Forced Entry.

In 1989 the band records Into the Mirror Black, which appears in 1990. The song “Future Tense” receives airplay on MTV’s Headbangers Ball. During the album tour, Sean Blosl leaves and Jeff Loomis joins. After that period, disagreements with Epic Records over changing toward the emerging Seattle grunge sound contribute to the band splitting in 1992. A planned live recording from the final tour is edited into the promotional EP Into the Mirror Live.

After the split, Warrel Dane, Jim Sheppard and Jeff Loomis form Nevermore in 1992. Lenny Rutledge later works as a music producer and contributes to the demo sessions for Nevermore’s Dreaming Neon Black in 1999. In 2010 Sanctuary reunites for live shows, leading to a permanent reformation. Four founding members return for the reunion performances, with Jeff Loomis involved in early shows before leaving and Brad Hull joining as a permanent guitarist.

The reformed band appears at ProgPower USA in Atlanta and at 70000 Tons of Metal in January 2011, and signs to Century Media Records in 2013. Its third studio album, The Year the Sun Died, is released in 2014, with advance tracks including “Arise and Purify”, “Exitium (Anthem of the Living)” and “Frozen”. Brad Hull leaves in 2015, and Nick Cordle, formerly of Arsis and Arch Enemy, plays on tour. George Hernandez becomes the permanent bassist in 2016. Around that time the band discusses a fourth album titled Dead Again and announces a compilation of early demos called Inception.

Warrel Dane dies in 2017. In 2018 Sanctuary tours North America with Iced Earth on a tribute tour, with Joseph Michael on lead vocals, and continues working on new material afterwards. Sean Blosl dies in Seattle in 2024. The band’s studio albums are Refuge Denied, Into the Mirror Black and The Year the Sun Died, and it also releases the live EP Into the Mirror Live.