The release of “Necropolis” on the Rock of Angels Records (ROAR!) label on 30th November marks the return of metal band Sacrosanct, 25 years after their last album. The band was originally active between 1988 and 1994 and released three albums during that period. I was a little slow picking up on this release, but I’ll be playing a track from the album on the Friday NI Rocks Show next week.


 

Sacrosanct formed in 1988, but only one of the founding members remains – guitarist Randy Meinhard who had previously played with Pestilence. The other four original members had departed by 1992, following the release of the debut album “Truth Is – What Is” in 1990 and then “Recesses for the Depraved” in 1991. The last of the original members to leave was vocalist Mike Lucarelli. The band’s third album, “Tragic Intense”, in 1993 featured Collin Kock on vocals. Shortly after the release of that album, the band split up.


When Meinhard decided to reform Sacrosanct in 2017 he recruited singer Richard F Hesselink, guitarist Christian Göwert, bass player Kees Harrison and drummer Meik Strodtmann.

 

The band has been traditionally hard to label, emerging originally as ‘progressive thrash metal’. Their second and third albums were increasingly more melodious and “Tragic Intense” was described as ‘a mixture of Thrash, Doom and Power-Metal’. The new album sees a further shift, which is unsurprising given the passage of time and change in line-up.

 

You can check out the band on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sacrosanctbandofficial/

 


About “NI Rocks Recommends”

The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. The albums that I’ll be recommending are those that you’ll hear me playing tracks from on my shows. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation to go check something out, not a traditional “review”!