A Massive and Thrashing EP from Sanctrum

A new EP release from Sanctum delivers a massive and thrashing metal approach that blends all kinds of different subgenres together from speed, death, melodic, a little blackened, but most of all, thrash metal. This thing hits super hard, and it does so in a way that is destructively energized, and the entire thing hits like a sucker punch to the gut.

The Awaken in Embers EP wastes very little time getting straight to the point with their first and title track, which comes in with an unbelievable riff and starts giving you some of the staples that the rest of the record holds.

Not only do you have a brutal force in terms of guitar tone and riffs, but you also have layers of vocals that are unbelievably powerful, and in different tones to boot. It's almost like punk rock crew vocals, but a bit different.

The track gives you the aesthetic of this gigantic and full-bodied Powerhouse of a band that you want to go see live, simply because if they can capture this kind of energy on record, then seeing them live must be a face-melter.

That's what I would expect from a band like this if I were to see them in live performance. I'd want to get my face melted off. I'm 100% sure these guys would be doing that from the very first second they picked up their instruments.

This is high-octane, blisteringly fun, and ultimately heavy, but it also has loads of character behind it.

There are breakdowns, crazy guitar work, sections that make you want to just jump a few feet in the air, and it's the kind of record you want to dive into from start to finish.

As I mentioned earlier, that first entitled track, "Awaken In Embers", does give off some of the band's killer staples in terms of their songwriting, tone, and approach; however, listening to the full EP is the only way you get the entire spectrum of what they're offering.

There are plenty of surprises around the corners and enough speed metal to give you whiplash.

Tracks like "No More" follow up with more of a punk rock tonality, still very fast and still very thrashy, but you can hear a little hardcore and a little punk rock in its veins, and you start to get more of an idea of the band's many influences.

Trucks like "Sageling" hit with a bigger, almost vaster sort of feel with open chords that spread out, a little bit of a slower pace, while still keeping true to more of their speed metal roots in their undertone, and some great guitar work that again, beckons some of the more classic metal approaches and influences.

Each track has something a little bit new to offer. This is what I mean by listening to the full record. When you jump into the whole release, you're getting all of these different approaches, layers, textures, songwriting styles, and different kinds of heaviness that it offers.

What blows my mind about this is the level of diversity, along with that energy. The energy is just completely unstoppable.

It makes you feel like they recorded some of these live on the floor, to an extent. It feels like everyone's feeding off of each other's energy is the entire time this is going.

You rarely hear a record that immediately lets you know these guys are going to be intense to see in a live performance setting. This record pulls that off without a hitch.

Like I mentioned before, I immediately want to go see them.

Intense, heavy, but still melodic, and very well arranged, written, and composed, you can tell this is a band that has a true love for their craft.

Now, when I say that, I don't just mean playing their instruments or singing. I mean writing songs together that have impact and let them be free.

This is a crazy speed thrash metal record that's got plenty of rambunctiousness in its underbelly and in its overbite as well, but there are also other layers to it. Those melodic and vast tonalities exist within the lines, and it's quite a massive escape.

This record is for absolutely anyone and everyone who loves metal of any kind. Straight up.

This is one of the most impactful, inventive, and raw energy-delivering metal thrash records I've heard in a long time. Hands down.

There's no excuse not to listen to this if you love metal.

Literally. You have no excuse. Listen to this record right now.

Will throw a video right underneath this article so you can just hit play. Nice and easy.

Having said that, listen loudly or with headphones on. Don't listen to this through tiny little dinky computer speakers that will not give it justice.

Remember where you heard this first.

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