The Year the Sun Died - 9.5/10

[rebirth]

Can truely tell ya the buzz was well worth waiting for.
Superbly crafted songwriting. But the 10sec intros on some of the songs are
Terrible. the outros emerge better. The ballad
Songs are a ,cerebral blessing locked in between
the machine head type sounding unpredictability. Dane is very creative leading his lyrics in an grey avant-garde landscape way making him still the most important Heavy metal activists around. This could well be a gripping horror film soundtrack intertwined with unexpected turns.


Well done. As judas priest the religious band says you have delivered the goods.


Have fun destroying all other cliche bands in 2014.

Enjoy!!!

 

[Talking Backwards]

Have fun destroying all other cliche bands in 2014.

I'm assuming you just meant have fun destroying bands that are less creative, because that sentence could also be read as though you're implying that Sanctuary is also cliche.

 

[buzz21]

Rebirth - where did you order this from, or did you just listen to a leak?

I'm not sure what is going on with the pre-order - if you want to get the limited edition with the mediabook/patch/bonus song, it is $16 but CM says [PRE-ORDER WILL SHIP ONCE OUR STOCKS ARRIVE FROM EUROPE (BY THE END OF NOVEMBER!!). PRE-ORDER WILL NOT ARRIVE ON OR BEFORE STREET DATE.] So that means if we want that edition we'd have to wait until the end of November????
http://www.cmdistro.com/Item/Sanctu...CD_Mediabook+Patch-_-PRE-ORDER-/47890?Aff=cus

The regular version is only $10 both at CM and at Amazon, but I'd rather spend a few more bucks to get the extras....no way I'm waiting an extra 6 weeks though!

 

[rebirth]

I Listened to the leak it was on iTunes...at the early hrs.

 

[rebirth]

Yellow vinyl is a lot as well

 

[nckissfan]

I wonder if the cd/shirt combo is the limited edition mediabook version?

 

[T-Cho]

I Listened to the leak it was on iTunes...at the early hrs.

The Serpent tune is my fave!
Shoulda done the vid on this one.

 

[Traxan]

It's on the IRC trading channels. No stopping it now.

=====================================================
E:\Music\A-2014\Sanctuary-The Year The Sun Died-2014\
=====================================================
!pistnbroke AlbumArtSmall.jpg ::INFO:: 6.2KB
!pistnbroke folder.jpg ::INFO:: 36.6KB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 01 - Arise And Purify.mp3 ::INFO:: 9.8MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 02 - Let The Serpent Follow Me.mp3 ::INFO:: 11.0MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 03 - Exitium (Anthem Of The Living).mp3 ::INFO:: 11.3MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 04 - Question Existence Fading.mp3 ::INFO:: 10.0MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 05 - I Am Low.mp3 ::INFO:: 12.1MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 06 - Frozen.mp3 ::INFO:: 13.3MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 07 - One Final Day (Sworn To Believe).mp3 ::INFO:: 8.1MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 08 - The World Is Wired.mp3 ::INFO:: 11.8MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 09 - The Dying Age.mp3 ::INFO:: 11.2MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 10 - Ad Vitam Aeternam.mp3 ::INFO:: 3.5MB
!pistnbroke Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died - 11 - The Year The Sun Died.mp3 ::INFO:: 12.8MB

 

[rebirth]

Cool - the next four weeks they will smash it for unit
Sales

 

[Talking Backwards]

I've already had this on order through Amazon for a while and I plan on keeping that order. Mostly because I like having an original physical copy (best quality too despite FLAC rips) and because I want my favorite bands to have an incentive and means to keep making music.

Regardless, that's not going to stop me from listening to this early.

 

[Traxan]

Same here. I don't get these kids who have no interest in owning physical media.

 

[Talking Backwards]

hmm...

Dunno how I actually feel about the album right now. I've listened to it three times, and so far the only songs that stand out to me, more than sounding like something off of ToC, Praises and occasionally In Memory and Nevermore would be "One Final Day". So far that's the only song that sounds like something off of Into the Mirror Black. Nothing on here really reminds me much of anything from DNB except for parts of "Arise and Purify" (which sadly is the best track). I am listening to mp3s though, so it might be crushing the dynamics too much, making things sound flatter than they really are. There's a handful of pretty good tracks, but only one or two that are clicking "killer" with me so far. Even though most of the songs have something that stand out, they don't necessarily mesh into an enthusiastic package. Sounds entirely too doomy for me, but then DNB took a very long while to click with me.

I'll know more on the 14th - 16th.

 

[rebirth]

No filler songs for me

 

[lorinc]

Received the album today (sometimes it's great to be in Europe) and will listen to it the whole week before judging.

 

[Talking Backwards]

It's slowly growing on me. So far my favorites are "Arise and Purify", "Exitium", "Question Existence", "One Final Day" and "The Year The Sun Died".

Still reminds me the most of a more energized Praises to the War Machine though. I also think that it does have similarities to DNB, but only lyrically.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

Agreed on all points. ^

 

[EVERLOSTINDEADETERNITY]

Doesnt anyone feel like its just a Nevermore album without Loomis? Im not hating on it but it doesnt sound like Sanctuary much at all to me. I like the DNB feeling it has though since that was my first Nevermore record.

 

[Talking Backwards]

Doesnt anyone feel like its just a Nevermore album without Loomis? Im not hating on it but it doesnt sound like Sanctuary much at all to me. I like the DNB feeling it has though since that was my first Nevermore record.

Yes and no. Because honestly, I can't really imagine what Nevermore sounds like without Loomis. Some people on this forum love to state that there is no Nevermore without Warrel, and while that's true for entirely obvious reasons, there's no Nevermore without Jeff either. The most Nevermore this sounds like musicially to me is what I already stated a few posts above. Basically all of the albums that Jeff either had not yet found his groove (where the band was in transition still from Sanctuary), or where he was just apathetic. It's clear on this album that the band has been listening to Nevermore over the years, and then Warrel is obviously going to be a factor in that too aside from the vocals, but it doesn't really sound like a tribute band to me.

I've listened to the album probably ten times now, and I still can't find more than a single full song (plenty of the leadwork is obvious Sanctuary) that reminds me of Sanctuary though, even factoring in a 20+ year gap. The energy and thrash is mostly gone, and a lot of the progressive parts almost feel forced. Musically and vocally it seems like it has more in common with Warrel's solo album than anything Nevermore has done.

I wouldn't say much of any of that is really a negative aside from a few parts, but after hearing "Arise and Purify", I was expecting to hear at least one more song like that. "Frozen" is actually probably the thrashiest song here, but I don't like the flow of the song as much as on "Arise and Purify". The chorus just kills it for me, and it isn't even that it's a bad chorus, it just throws off the entire feel of the song.

 

[WorkerPig]

The Dying Age...holy fuck. Jesus Man, what a groove. It's going to take a while to let it all soak in. Question Existence Fading...WOW. Thanks for this. I've been reading all the reviews/comments leading up to the release and I really can't see where some people are coming from. I was in my late teens when Refuge Denied and Into The Mirror Black came out and, to me, this just carries it on through. Also, no-one sounds like Rutledge. Pretty distinct. I hear certain riffs and his solos and it's a great feeling to be in the now and brought back in time all at once. Thanks again.

 

[Talking Backwards]

Hah, I guess I'm just lazy.

If someone wanted to define The Year the Sun Died in one sentence, one could lazily say that it sounds like a mixture of Nevermore‘s self-titled debut (which most fans view as the “real” third Sanctuary album), and singer Dane‘s 2008 solo album Praises to the War Machine.

http://www.prog-sphere.com/reviews/sanctuary-the-year-the-sun-died-review/

Can't stop listening though. Can't wait to look at the insert either, and I'm probably going to get a shirt as well.

Ah, I know what a lot of these songs are reminding me more of than anything else if I had to sum it up in a single word: Communic.