Unsanctum

Unsanctum
Origin	Liverpool, England
Genres	Deathcore
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Visible Noise Records
Website	MySpace Profile
Members
Thomas Arian Paul Armistead Alexander Joyce James Piprell

Unsanctum are a metal band from Liverpool, Merseyside. The band formed in the year 2001 during their early teens without prior musical involvement. They have incorporated elements of black metal, death metal, thrash metal, and metal in their music.

Highlights

Unsanctum are a five piece metal outfit hailing from Liverpool, England. Formed in 2001 by co-founders Tom Arian and Paul Armitstead, Unsanctum has estalished a notorious reputation throughout the UK. The band returned in 2008 in pursuit of their 2004 debut album released on Cacophonous/Visible Noise Records.

With an average age of 20 and influences such as Mayhem, Racer X, Slayer, Biohazard and Lamb of God, Unsanctum churn out a unique blend of thrash, metal and hardcore. Having completed several UK tours with Burning Skies (Lifeforce Records)and Walls of Jericho (Roadrunner Records), the band has attained substantial coverage in Metal Hammer, Terrorizer and Kerrang, the latter having referred to the band as the "the perfect antidote to spineless coattail riders everywhere" and drawing a series of 4K reviews.

Biography

Formed during the latter fall of 2001 by Tom (Vocals) and Paul (Guitars), a few songs were written and recorded, most of which never saw the light of day. One of the first live shows was in support of Belgian metalcore act xReprisalx (Goodlife records). On an extreme budget, the first material was a four track demo, recorded by Mick Kenney (Anaal Nathrakh, Mistress, Frost) on the 31st of December 2001 at Necrodeath studio's in Birmingham, which eventually saw daylight in late January 2002. The four tracks (in all clocking 10 minutes 37 seconds) pointed out the future musical direction of Unsanctum and also gained the band positive reviews and the necessary exposure. After copious amounts of promotional material, Unsanctum signed with Cacophonous/Visible Noise records in July 2002. On December 7th 2002 at Necrodeath studio's in Birmingham with producer Mick Kenney, Unsanctum began the recording of 11 tracks for their debut album to be released on Cacophonous/Visible Noise records in early 2003.

"Ignite the skies" was remixed and remastered three times. The initial recording was considered so substandard that both the guitar and bass tracks were rerecorded at Bonafide Studio's in London during February 2003. This is not to say that the album was not everything we had hoped for, but simply, due to the amount of time wasted and damage done in the early stages of production, we were so far behind schedule, that unfortunately, perfection was not an option. In April 2003, Unsanctum accepted an endorsement from Bc Rich guitars. "Ignite the skies" was released on the 23rd of June 2003 through Cacophonous records and distributed by Pinnacle worldwide. Amongst other feedback, it received a KKKK rating in Kerrang and an 8/10 rating in Metal Hammer. In July 2003, Unsanctum accepted an endorsement from Jägermeister. In August 2003, Unsanctum set off on their second UK tour with Burning Skies (Lifeforce records), playing 12 consecutive shows around the UK, receiving a 4/5 live review in Kerrang and an 8/10 live review in Metal Hammer. On Halloween 2003, Unsanctum performed a live soundtrack to the silent classic "The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari" to a sold out audience at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Following a number of high profile shows, Unsanctum completed a third UK tour with Walls Of Jericho (Trustkill records) in November 2003.

In early 2004, Unsanctum were voted the third Best Newcomer of 2003 by Terrorizer magazine. A new logo was designed by Christophe Szpajdel (Emperor). Unsanctum had taken over 4 years of our lives, we were broke, burnt out and the time had come for a rest. Work began on the second album in early 2004. Words can not express how grateful we are to the people who turned up at our shows, gave us a place to crash and helped to realise our dream.

The close of 2005 saw an overwhelming response to a limited press three track demo titled "Adamantium Rage", the first new Unsanctum recording in over 2 years. In February 2006, David (Bass) decided to leave the band, he was the first and only member to leave the band since the band confirmed their original line-up in 2001, and was replaced by Chris (Vultures, Atlas) shortly after. In March 2007, after 3 years in the making, work finally ceased on the follow-up to "Ignite the skies". The bands second full length, to be titled "Ritual killing", marked their return to the UK metal scene. Harder, faster and a hell of a lot more pissed off, the bands song writing ability had matured significantly, displaying a harsher, thrash orientated sound.

The band started work on a third album "Throne to the wolves" in 2008 due for release in 2009.

Influences

Mayhem, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Metallica, Emperor, Pantera, Darkthrone, King Diamond, Hatebreed, Sarcofago, Madball, Lamb Of God, Biohazard, Annihilator, Death, Machine Head, Judas Priest, Integrity, Megadeth, Racer X, Strife, Exhorder & Tragedy.

Band members

• Thomas Arian - Vocals
• Paul Armistead - Guitar
• Alex Joyce - Bass
• James Pipprell - Drums

Discography

Date of release	Title	Label
December, 2001	Unsanctum	Visceral Records,
July, 2003 (Re-Released in January 2006)	Ignite The Skies	Cacophonous Records/Visible Noise Records, (Re-Released on Visible Noise)
July, 2009	Ritual Killing	Unreleased

Achievements

• Terrorizer 3rd Best British Newcomer 2003.

Other websites

• Official MySpace Profile
• Unofficial Myspace Profile
• YouTube Videos