SANCTUARY — Refuge Denied (review)

Album · 1987 · US Power Metal

5/5 · 2015-06-22
adg211288

Refuge Denied (1987) is the debut full-length studio album by US power/traditional/thrash metal act Sanctuary. These days Sanctuary is probably better known as the previous (and recently reactivated) band of Nevermore's Warrel Dane and Jim Sheppard, which is a shame, because at least in my opinion Sanctuary is the stronger outfit. It's all a matter of taste of course though. Refuge Denied was produced by Megadeth's Dave Mustaine, who also gets a guest slot on the album.

If there's one thing I see people complain about Refuge Denied, it's Mustaine's production work. I'm not sure I understand what the problem is though, as it seems fairly standard for the genre in question which is the US style of power metal. We're talking strong traditional heavy metal roots compared to the more speed metal influenced European power metal style that was starting to emerge around the same time with Germany's Helloween, as well as quite the thrashy edge. Warrel Dane's vocals on the album are very much in the high register most of the time. It's a singing style that is very much in your face and full of power. Sure, I guess Mustaine's production may seem a little rough and under-polished if you're more used to European power metal, but for a USPM record, this works for me.

The album is not overly long, falling just shy of the forty minute mark with a total of nine tracks. Eight of the tracks are Sanctuary originals while track six is a cover. The cover, which is the track with Dave Mustaine playing guitar, is one of the more unusual choices for a metal artist to record in my experience, being of White Rabbit by US psychedelic rock group Jefferson Airplane. While I can't say I'm a major fan of the original band I do love White Rabbit. It's a classic and something quite far removed from Sanctuary's style. My initial thoughts were that it was going to suck. I couldn't have been more wrong. Sanctuary really make the song their own and it fits in with their original material perfectly. Speaking of which they serve up eight great originals here too. My personal favourites would have to be Termination Force and The Third War, but there are no letups during the album, even when it goes into a slower section such as White Rabbit. Simply put Refuge Denied is exactly like classic USPM should sound like. It's really, really powerful and energetic stuff, not to mention addictive. Every time it ends I want to start it all over again. That's the sign of a truly high class album in my opinion. 5 stars.

more than 2 years ago
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adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I quite like Into the Mirror Black too but it hasn't got me addicted like this one has. The Year the Sun Died is a pretty great album too but a bit different in style compared to 80's Sanctuary.