SANCTUARY are deep into work on their first new album in over a decade, and frontman Joseph Michael says their latest single, "Not Of The Living," is the bluntest taste of what's coming. Speaking with Heavy Metal On Line, the vocalist called it "the most straightforward of the new songs that we're working on" — a track that's "just heavy," designed to plant a flag for the band's renewed direction before the album wanders into more complex territory.
"Not Of The Living" marks SANCTUARY's first release through BLKIIBLK, the metal imprint of Frontiers Label Group. It was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris and features a guest guitar solo from Jake Dreyer.
Michael, who also fronts WITHERFALL, explained that the band's writing is a meeting of two methods. Founding guitarist Lenny Rutledge prefers to build songs by jamming with the band, while Michael works from fully written compositions — a push and pull the singer says keeps the material dynamic.
On timing, Michael said the label is expecting finished masters by January 7, 2027, but he was careful not to promise that creativity will bend to a calendar. The forthcoming record will be SANCTUARY's first full-length since 2014's "The Year The Sun Died," and their first new material since the 2017 passing of original vocalist Warrel Dane.
SANCTUARY emerged from Seattle in the mid-1980s, delivering the cult classics "Refuge Denied" (1987) and "Into The Mirror Black" (1990) before Dane and bassist Jim Sheppard splintered off to form NEVERMORE. The current lineup pairs Michael and Rutledge with bassist George Hernandez, drummer Dave Budbill and touring second guitarist Will Wallner. The band is also marking its 40th anniversary with a world tour spanning North America, South America and Europe, mixing classic material with the new songs.