Hailing from the US one man black metal act Sanctuary returns after a hiatus to bring us their latest full length The Glowering Grimoire. I was very excited to hear this one as I was very interested in the demo releases, as the raw claustrophobic production and punkish attitude drew me into this mysterious black metal act. I was very much looking forward to this album as it was a long while in the making, and was pleasantly surprised with the changes the band took with this.
If you’ve heard their previous demos, then you’d be very surprised to hear how ‘clean’ this release is compared to the previous two. While still having a very raw and gritty sound, its not as chaotic and noisy as before, and I think it helps a lot with this release. The guitar riffs have an almost ethereal feel with having just a touch of some melodic parts here and there though they are fleeting. The drums are played with this almost sloppy, undead feel to it. Each hit of the drum or cymbal almost slide off and the blast beats feel almost skeletal. It works very well I feel, and gives the album a rather unique touch, I feel, compared to other ‘raw’ black metal bands. The vocals are nice and harsh and feel much more naturalistic when compared to the demos.
The album as a whole just has this very loose and hazy feel to it all that I think is a great take especially with this style of black metal. You can really become immersed within its own dark world it creates in the music. While the riffs can be a little repetitive there’s something about them that doesn’t get tiring really. There’s enough variety within a song that it doesn’t get overly redundant and they’re easy enough to listen to that it can be rather catching at times. The album as a whole just sets a very mysterious mood and atmosphere I feel. The way the guitar parts are written make them seem somewhere inbetween a traditional black metal album to one of those ‘post’ black metal albums with out really needing to compromise for anything. The harshness is still there, just stretched out more so over time. A great example of this is the last track, Vermillion. As towards the end of this 11 minute and 24 second track, the riff goes from a harsh and rather angular tone and ends with this rather beautiful yet tragic riff that really is a jarring transition done perfectly.
While I personally enjoyed this more than the two demo releases I do think there would be those who’d prefer the harsh and claustrophobic feelings of them. As that’s the one thing that’s missing from this release. It has its moments but thanks to the cleaner production, it really lets you space out with the music and creates for a unique dynamic. I really enjoyed this and I feel as though fans of the titular raw and atmospheric black metal genre would enjoy this and could easily take something they like away from it.