Photo by: Steve Dempsey
Official press release:
There is a point in every band’s evolution when it becomes necessary to strip everything back and ask a simple question: What is it that makes us who we are? For UK death metal force, Celestial Sanctuary, that question became the foundation for Cradle of the Rotten, Shrine to Those Most Foul, a bold and uncompromising new album that sees the band refining their identity by refusing to conform to anyone else’s expectations. The band explains:
“Our intention this time around was to refine what actually this ‘Celestial Sanctuary’ thing is filtering out all the bullshit, ignoring trends and ignoring what people expect us to do, and we’re a way better band for it.”
The answer isn’t to abandon death metal, but to look beyond its boundaries. Celestial Sanctuary approached Cradle of the Rotten, Shrine to Those Most Foul, their Metal Blade debut out January 22nd, 2027, with an organic understanding of their complete metal DNA, retaining the violence and extremity at the core of the band while allowing a much broader spectrum of influences to shape the songwriting, dynamics and production. The band describes the album as roughly 25% death metal and 75% everything else that makes up their conception of heavy metal.
Across 47 minutes, the album unfolds as a violent and expansive journey through death, folklore, and the darkest corners of the band’s home territory. The story is a bastardization of the history and legends surrounding Bury St. Edmunds, drawing from centuries of local mythology, atrocities, and executions. The piercing and beheading of King Edmund, the spectral Black Shuck, the infamous Red Barn Murders, the Witch Trials, the Sunken Bells of Dunwich, the Lantern Man, and the many brutal executions that once took place throughout the region all become raw material for Celestial Sanctuary‘s twisted narrative.
Comments Celestial Sanctuary vocalist/guitarist Tom Cronin on lead single “Lashed By Chain”, and the accompanying video:
“This was the first song to be written for this album and an immediate statement of intent for what to expect. Tight, fast riffing, a brutal slam that jumps out of the shadows to piledrive you into oblivion and a big dual guitar solo that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Maiden tune. The lyrics follow the story of a knight who has one hand crossed with gold and riches, and the other with iron symbolizing that he’s sold his destiny to fight an unwinnable war. The theme treads the line of yearning to return to the things you love, the drive to survive, and the cruelty of false hope – being driven to survive in the most hopeless of times. Don’t be fooled… there is nothing positive about this and there is no happy ending.
Musically, we wanted to channel a tighter rhythmic sound on this record. We really wanted to push the limit of what we could do with syncopated riffs and sudden time signature changes.”
He continues:
“We wanted to make a video that felt real, gritty and tactile. As a video producer by trade, I see a lot of videos that feel like an afterthought, so we took a considered approach with every element of the video. As I was directing and producing it myself, I felt a responsibility to make this as fucking cool as I possibly could.
We filmed it in a 9th century, deconsecrated church that was built on a burial site in England’s first city. We composed every shot of us playing meticulously and complimented that with high contrast lighting to match the colours in the animation and album artwork. We shot, graded and edited in such a way so you can feel the energy and aggression of our performance pouring out of your screen and into your face!
When it came to the animation element of the video, we purposely wanted something tangible, so we worked with Ben Amos Cooper to create visuals that compliment James Bousema’s album artwork in their own way. While they each have their own identity, the two are so undeniably entwined.”
Celestial Sanctuary’s Cradle of the Rotten, Shrine to Those Most Foul will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
- Weeping Old Flesh (US)
- Rotting St. Edmund (EU – Ltd. 500)
- Milk Of The Haggard Teet (EU – Ltd. 250)
- Frozen Frothed Gob (EU – Ltd. 250)
Find pre-orders at MetalBlade.com/CelestialSanctuary
Celestial Sanctuary will support Khemmis on their upcoming EU/UK tour beginging this weekend. See confirmed below.
Cradle of the rotten, Shrine to Those Most Foul track listing:
- “Where the Blood Flows”
- “Bonestorm”
- “They Worm Their Way In”
- “Cradle of the Rotten”
- “Shrine To Those Most Foul”
- “Enter the Sanctuary”
- “Lashed By Chain”
- “A Dogged Act”
- “Subhuman Scum”
10/10 Bochum, DE – Die Tropete
10/11 Hengelo, NL – Metropool
10/13 Birmingham, UK – The Flapper
10/14 Manchester, UK – The Bread Shed
10/15 London, UK – The Underworld
10/16 Portsmouth, UK – Kola
10/17 Paris, FR – Backstage by the Mill
10/18 Liege, BE – Desertfest
10/19 Leipzig, DE – Naumanns
10/20 – Prague, CZ – Subzero
10/21 Berlin, DE – Cassiopeia
10/22 Hamburg, DE – Monkeys