Sanctorum - Crystal Tears of Silence (1994)

Genre: Atmospheric Doom/Death Metal
Country: Greece
Year: 1994

1. Flight of the Dragons
2. Silent and Forgotten
3. Crimson Dawn

Download at Mediafire
Metal Archives
Last.fm

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Holy fuck! Not quite sure how I came across this breathtaking Doom/Death band, but after seeking out this magnificent demo, I was awestruck. The kids were young at the time of this recording, the youngest being 15 years old, but displaying truly mind-boggling talent and incredible metallian prowess. It's a crying shame that Greece's military policies forced this band to split up, as they show so much potential with this masterpiece.

Clocking in at 28:56, sit back and prepare yourself for a journey of monolithic proportions through the three songs presented here. I'm not calling these guys Atmospheric for nothing, and this demo just oozes aloof, spacey undertones in a very memorable fashion, leaving the melodies embedded in your mind for days after even a single listen. Some of the most inventive and well-structured riffing I've heard in a long time. Tremolo picking is key, yet the band somehow retains a doomy, crushing, overpowering sound. I feel I'm in the lone guy at the bottom of Beksinski's ominous valley, traversing this unknown territory, letting the music wash over me... a bit overproduced, further accentuating the suffocating atmosphere, wrapping the listener up in the music. Just wait until you're hit with the occasional interlude... beautiful. The way these songs are constructed just defies my preconceptions about metal in 1993. Needless to say, Sanctorum was way ahead of its time!

Bonus fun fact: the band initially had all three of these songs rehearsed for a total of 33 or so minutes, but unknowingly bought analog cassettes that only allowed for 30 minutes of recording! Whoops! So the band had to play all these songs faster.

This is Christos's (the drummer) Youtube channel if you'd like to see what he's up to, or contact him. Those of you who'd like to contact him directly via email, send me an email and I'll hook you up.

Note that the recordings here come directly from the drummer, Christos, at 320kbps, much better quality than the Youtube rip floating around now. Also, this is the correct artwork, the one with the red lettering is most likely fan made. Scans of the entire inlay are available in the .rar archive uploaded here!