Reviews list for Sanctuary - Into the Mirror Black (1990)

I’ve certainly heard bits & pieces of Seattle US power metal outfit Sanctuary over the years but strangely haven’t ever felt like committing to a full release up until now. Perhaps that’s an indication that nothing I’d heard from them previously had impressed me enough to warrant it? That could be the case but I tend to believe it’s just been a mixture of laziness & coincidence. Anyway, I thought I’d start with Sanctuary’s most widely celebrated record in their 1990 sophomore album “Into The Mirror Black” given that Ben gave it a rave review many years ago.

“Into The Mirror Black” is certainly a consistent record as Sanctuary don’t appear to be capable of delivering anything particularly subpar. Theirs is quite a simple version of heavy metal though with the riffs not being terribly complex & the song-writing relying heavily on theatrical front man Warrel Dane to bring it all home for them. His style has always left me in two minds though if I’m being honest. I do really dig those Rob Halford-esque shrieks but then I’m not entirely onboard at other times, particularly when he heads a little too close to King Diamond territory as only the King seems to get away with that stuff in my house.

Sanctuary are certainly well suited to the US power metal tag as they seem to fit the subgenre description to a tee given that their sound is essentially a chunkier, thrashier take on heavy metal with theatrical higher-register vocals, never actually touching on full-blown thrash metal though. I’m just not sure that “Into the Mirror Black” is the best example of the movement if I’m being honest. Despite there not being any weak tracks included, I struggle to identify any songs that nail their hooks well enough to see them reaching transcendent levels of jubilation. Instead, the better material seems to hover in that “very solid” space with the remainder of the album consistently achieving a frustrating “quite good” mark, despite the clear potential Sanctuary offer. I even gave the album a full four listens to give it the chance to dig its teeth in but it couldn’t quite manage to breach my defences. The thrashier & more exciting tracks in the back end of the tracklisting were where I was most successful with “Seasons of Destruction” & “Communion” being my clear picks of the bunch.

At the end of the day, I don’t think “Into The Mirror Black” will disappoint too many people. It’s an admirable US power metal record with high quality production & performances after all. It just doesn’t really compete with Dane & bassist Jim Sheppard’s later band Nevermore in my opinion so I can’t say that I find it to be as essential as many claim it to be. If you go absolutely nuts for bands like Helstar or Metal Church then you’ll no doubt disagree with me but I’m sure you’re all aware by now that I call ‘em like I see ‘em.

Lemme start by saying that I planned to listen to all three Sanctuary albums.  Refuge Denied was almost incredible.  Even though it was clearly frontloaded, the stuff at the front was extremely metallic, effortlessly menacing and badass, and perfectly produced.  If the debut was that good and it wasn't even the one everyone loves, this had to be better.

Immediately I noticed that the production wasn't as sleek and metallic, and their singer had to focus less on the screaming he was so good at.  Unlike King Diamond, Warrel Dane never overused it, not even for the debut's album length.  Now he's focusing more on singing, and as he focuses on the music itself, the band relies on attempting to create excellent riffs and melodies to drive the album rather than the cop-outs they still mastered on the debut, including heaviness and production.  In other words, although both factors suffer only a slight bit, this sacrifice is perfectly necessary as it gives the band room to focus on playing as well as they can.  Because oif this, the metallic mood molds with other more emotional moods.

I guess if there is a flaw with the album, it's pretty simple: despite how good each song is, the album has a bit of a one track mind, meaning that it had the potential to be an incredible release, but the band squandered it on variants of the same idea.  But if you like that idea, each song is different enough to keep going without filler.

Back in 1990, making a sullen, introspective USPM album was certainly new ground in itself. Sanctuary’s small dosages of technicality and prog along with a pinch of Thrash in both the vocal delivery and riffs further make this a standout release for the time. Indeed, you could certainly call this thinking man’s metal, with its more philosophical approach to the genre.

Underneath all that though, it’s not pretentious in the slightest. It’s just very competent USPM with some fantastic riffs and melodies, good vocal performance and lyrics, and always interesting rhythm section. It’s not exactly mind-blowing music, but everything comes together here quite perfectly, and it has a very fresh sound to it even now. Every track is top quality, not a minute of wasted space, what more could you want.

I haven’t managed to listen to Sanctuary’s debut album Refuge Denied, so this is my first experience of the band. I guess the first thing that comes to mind is Nevermore! But that’s hardly surprising as the vocalist, bassist and lead guitarist all started up Nevermore after Sanctuary closed shop. I happen to be a massive fan of Nevermore’s later work and so this album fell comfortably upon my ears. I guess I expected the song writing to be of lesser quality than the Nevermore albums I love as it wasn’t until about 1998 that they really hit their straps. How wrong I was!

This album is amazing! Just about every song is of the highest quality. The musicianship may not be hugely technical, but it’s just so emotionally moving and memorable. It’s been ages since I heard an album just a couple of times, and then found myself humming the tunes and singing lyrics in my head for the rest of the day. I’ve just been listening to it repeatedly. Warrel Dane’s vocals are awesome as usual and Jeff Loomis’ guitar work is just as good. This album is more heavy and power metal than thrash metal and yet manages to contain that power of emotion and intensity that normally belongs to the more extreme genres.

Highlights for me are Taste of Revenge, Long Since Dark, The Mirror Black, Seasons of Destruction and closer Communion. But there are no bad tracks on Into the Mirror Black and I simply can’t give it anything less than top marks. An essential album for anyone into heavy music.