Gone are the days of being labeled an Emperor clone. Sanctifica is now almost impossible to classify. To call them progressive death, black, alternative, electronic, experimental metal would be confusing -- somewhat accurate, but still inept at pinning them down to a definite sound. Upon first listen, I was close to furious anger. This is so far from the Spirit of Purity sound (that I adored) that I felt like smashing the CD against the wall! After hearing flutes in the opening song, and then reading in the liner notes of mandolins and hand claps, I wanted to scream out in frustration! However, I refrained and listened on. There are still parts in almost every song that I'm not convinced I like. I still hate the flutes. I cringe upon hearing the cheesy, early-Deadlines horror keyboards in "Stardust, Inc." I am confused that after their brutal debut that they can have multiple ballad-like songs on the same album. But, then again, I think I like it. In fact, some of it I think I love! Songs like "Nerve," "Red Alert," and "Confront" thrill me more with every listen. This band has created some very original music, and it just takes time before you realize that they may be on to something. As I think of Spirit of Purity, I want so badly to hate this album -- and I seriously think they should have changed their band name due to the huge style change -- but despite conflicting feelings, I have just one word -- brilliant.
Editors' ratings - Doug 4/5, Jason 3.5/5
Other coverage for this album
Art for the Ears 2002Reviewed by Marco PovervestHere's a band with guts. After a demo and an album (Spirit Of Purity) containing atmospheric black metal, this band changed direction musically. There's guts needed to do it as there's no doubt you will heavily disappoint the fans who are mainly into black metal. In fact, the fans will hear a completely different band. The only thing that hasn't changed, is the name and you might wonder if it…Dead Zine 2002Reviewed by GrindboyThis album was probably a lot of fun to write. The guys probably have a blast jamming to this stuff. I'll bet they think it's just the greatest time anyone could have playing music. But it's absolutely NO FUN for me to listen to. There are still traces of black metal, but this is just sort of really really progressive black/death influenced metal. Like if you took equal parts Dream Theater and…Similar sounding releases
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