1991 was the last outcry of greatness for the classic metal styles, and in terms of quality albums it can easily rival 1988 even. Some bands reached their creative peaks (Death, Coroner, Atheist, Pestilence), others (Assorted Heap, Baphomet, Invocator) started greatly before succumbing, more or less blatantly, to the new tastes overtaking the decade. Germany and Holland were the two bastions which continued churning out fairly strong and consistent efforts up to the mid-90’s, and formed healthy pools of highly creative technical/progressive thrash (also death) metal acts that kept the scene going, albeit on second gear largely due to the growing indifference towards this kind of music. These works were echoes of the foundations built by pioneers like Watchtower, Toxik, Realm, Deathrow, Target and Mekong Delta some of those bands already chapters from the metal history textbooks by that time.
The Dutch metal fraternity should be proud of its contribution to the progressive/technical metal scene during those uncertain times, and one may argue whether this country hasn’t actually given more to the world of metal than Germany during the 90’s. The group, both in terms of quality and quantity, is truly impressive: Creepmime, Paralysis, Rhadamantys, Decision D, Donor, Osiris, Voices, Altered Moves Two, Genetic Wisdom, Imperium, Cantara, Blind Justice, Mystrez… Not to mention those who never managed to release more than an isolated demo. Sacrosanct belong to the very top of this gathering, not only due to the high quality of the material they left behind them, but also thanks to the ties they had to some of the more prominent practitioners from it (and not only).
The story of Sacrosanct begins with the young guitar wizard Randy Meinhard’s decision to leave the new stars of the show Pestilence after their striking debut “Malleus Maleficarum” and embark on a journey of his own in order to pursue the thrash metal idea from which his former comrades had already decided to shift further away on their oncoming instalment. The man found the right musicians to pair with, the result of which was “Truth is-What is”, a striking display of classic technical thrash showing quite a departure from the intense, direct barrage of the Pestilence debut. This was an awesome beginning showing a new talent ready to emerge from the underground, but Meinhard’s teammates had other plans about their careers, and the other guitar maestro involved Michael Cerrone left to found his own band; which was probably not such a bad decision since his outfit Imperium remains one of the better technical power/thrash one-album-wonders of the decade.
Meinhard, unperturbed by the line-up changes, quickly recruited another axeman, Michael Kock, for the recording of the album reviewed here. Some blame the man for using the debut largely as a vehicle for the display of his skills hence the several virtuoso passages which didn’t gel that well with the rest of the music. Obviously he had enough of those exhibitions of dexterity since here he subjects his talent to the creation of this great album, the band’s finest achievement, and one of Dutch metal’s milestones. The listener may be in for a surprise once the opener “Like Preached Directions” enters with an officiant barricade of stylish brooding, bordering on doom at times, riffs which keep the fast-paced escapades to a minimum; it remains a dark pessimistic piece with a heavy technical undercurrent. “Mortal Remains” is already the playful technicaller recalling the debut, but make no mistake here since the delivery is again of the seismic, steam-roller type with the intricate riff-formulas circling this depressing tapestry which is further aggravated by the intense, dramatic semi-clean vocals which at times semi-recite, but still with a deep resonant pathos; a fairly characteristic singing style reminiscent of Tom Araya’s exploits on “South of Heaven”, maybe a tad more lyrical. “Illusive Surpremacy” begins with an “illusory” balladic intro, but the virtuoso technical vortexes are just a few notes away only to be later replaced again by elegiac doomy/semi-balladic sections until the guys pick their stride in the middle with faster riffs and other portions of mind-scratching technicality; all the way to the brilliant pounding closing tunes. So far, so amazing; “Hidden Crimes Untold” follows suit, a meandering mid-pacer with blazing leads opening the horizons for “With Malice Presence”, a fast-paced shredder with shattering headbanging rhythms, another reminder of the debut’s more dynamic character. “Enter the Sanctum” starts officiantly with brooding riffs which grow into a formidable wall of mid-tempo technicality the mid-section another textbook of speedy intricacy which gets superseded by an ultra-technical passage in the 2nd half. “Astrayed Thoughts” thrashes with more intensity without reaching the speed of light, with mazey rifforamas alternating with short lead sections and smattering stop-and-go techniques, the standout musicianship brought to its culmination here, the 2nd half featuring another technical grandeur with mid-paced guitars overlapping with a superb melodic blend. Blissful stuff finished with “The Silence of Being”, a composition built exclusively on atmosphere and morose doomy rhythms which twist and turn with minimalistic technicality present, nothing extremely fancy but a very expertly woven tapestry of dark brooding heaviness which the band brought to its perfection on the next opus.
Progressive/technical thrash generally goes with frequent fast, speedy passages the latter kind of mandatory in order to show bigger musical prowess. Well, to these ears the knack of making very technical music without speeding up too much is the real challenge, and this effort here is possibly the best example of that. It’s amazing to hear how patiently and assuredly the band create these elaborate pictures never tempted to suddenly tear the canvas with a brash aggressive “skirmish”; in this train of thought one should also mention Coroner who produced something equally as enchanting and atmospheric on “No More Color”, and later this unique approach was heard on the works of other Dutch acts like the already mentioned Creepmime, Rhadamantys, and later-period Paralysis. The faster-paced moments are never played with the utmost intensity usually serving as deviations from the heavy monolithic norm which is consolidated with both stomping and very technical riff-patterns.
The album was one-of-a-kind listening experience establishing Sacrosanct on the top of this exciting group of hugely talented musicians. Alas, the music tastes had already mutated towards the trendy detrimental groovisms, and many of the retro thrash defenders voted to go with the flow. Some did well, some didn’t. Sacrosanct definitely fall into the former fraction their transformational opus (“Tragic Intense”) released two years later. The depressing pessimistic mood of their magnum opus has taken its toll on Meinhard and Co., and their swansong is an ode to doom/gothic metal, above all, thrash dispersed as an afterthought on a couple of tracks giving the album the requisite more dynamic boost. It’s a good effort in some ways, and one can detect motifs and patterns already sketched here; it’s just that the gorgeous technical labyrinths are almost nowhere to be found replaced by “tragic intense”, pensive gloom.
Some blame the band’s line-up for this transition since all the musicians, except for Meinhard of course, and Michael Kock, abandoned the ship after the recording and formed a new outfit, Genetic Wisdom, another good, albeit very short-lived, act. Meinhard had to summon an entirely new team for the recording of “Tragic Intense”, but I believe the metamorphosis witnessed there had already been planned, and wasn’t dependent on anyone else’s involvement. Apparently the man had gotten tired of the whole thrash metal carnival since shortly after his band’s demise (early in 1994) he founded Submission, a classic heavy metal formation which only lasted for three years, recording three demos before disappearing. He was last seen in the gothic metallers Neon Dream whom he helped with the recording of their debut “Anodyne” (2003). Will his passion for thrash be rekindled? That no one knows, but I’m pretty sure that the thrash metal revival in the new millennium would be quite glad to welcome another portion of brooding thought-out, progressive/technical wizardry.
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