Swedish industrial act Sanctum will be doing a few US shows in July around the Cornerstone Festival: http://www.crescens-collective.com/livedates

Here's the playlist for this week's special spooky/scary Halloween edition radio show:

01. TALK 1
02. Entombed - Hollywood Babylon
03. ARM - Humming bug
04. Camouflage - Oktober
05. TALK 2
06. Notre Dame - Red Cross
07. Sanctum - Lie low
08. Bay Laurel - Pale colours
09. TALK 3
10. At the Gates - Blinded by fear
11. Frode Haltli - Lude
12. Brighter Death Now - Little baby
13. Death Breath - Lycanthropy
14. TALK 4
15. Breach - Mr. Marshall
16. The Skull Defekts - Carved in bones
17. The Cardigans - Mr. Crowley
18. TALK 5
19. Diabolique - Catholic
20. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Masks, walls and other ways to keep things out, to keep things in
21. The Bear Quartet - Broken heart
22. Mercyful Fate - Come to the Sabbath
23. TALK 6
24. Beyond Dawn - Cigarette
25. Pimentola - Heart's dementia (Phase I)
26. Repoman - Chemically obsessed
27. TALK 7
28. MZ412 - Infernal affairs II
29. Satyricon - Nemesis divina
30. Switchblade - Selfdestruct schematics / Open aftermath
31. TALK 8
32. Rasion D'etre - Metamorphyses Phase IV
33. Cortex - We are the dead
34. TALK 9
35. Emperor - I am the Black Wizards

MP3: Sanctum - {-}

Back in the early 90s I went through a period of being all about industrial music. Part of that was a result of being heavily steeped in BBS culture, though I never did go as far as to sew old circuit boards into my army jacket or anything like that. The dumb shaved-under haircut - yes, I will admit to that. While some of that music has aged well (Skinny Puppy being a prime example, up to "Last rights" at least), most of it has not (please let me never hear "Pretty hate machine" ever again). I bring this up because, even though I quickly became immersed in punk for the rest of my teenage years, I still kept a sympathetic ear open to the sounds of industrial. Discovering Cold Meat Industry later that decade was like a godsend - not only did it satisfy my desire for more Scandinavian music, but it also made me nostalgic for my roots. That many CMI artists were also on the fringes of black-metal was a bonus.
1998's two-disc sampler "The absolute supper" is the perfect introduction to the sound of CMI. The first disc offered the more "melodic" (I use that term very lightly) side of the label and the second was almost all brutal noise. The standout track: Sanctum's curiously titled "{-}" also known as "The library song". I believe the pictograph is meant to represent the ladder referenced in the first line. This is about as pop-oriented as CMI will ever get and I suppose it's not too far off from Portishead, though the rest of Sanctum's material is far more cold and dark. Approach lightly!

Sanctum - {-}

Crescens Collective, the association of people involved with the bands Sanctum, Mago, Parca Pace and so on, have revamped their website: http://www.crescens-collective.com/

Swedish industrial act Sanctum reports that they are working on new material and will be playing two shows this summer. Dates:

06/30 - The Stage, Arnhem (NL)
06/31 - Les Instants Chavirés, Paris (FRA)

Podcast: The new black (is the old black)

Cold Meat Industry has posted details and samples for new releases from industrial act Irm and Sanctum neoclassical electronic sideproject Parca Pace: http://www.coldmeat.se/

In honor of their 10th anniversary, Swedish industrial/noise act Sanctum has posted mp3s of their live show from the 2001 Cornerstone Festival: http://www.ratblast.net/cc/node/view/57
The event was one of last shows that Lena Robért did with the group and is considered to be a classic performance.

At the risk of total bandwidth overload, I've added a crapload of new mp3s added today including something from one of my longtime favorites, Swedish industrial act Sanctum. Four more Kristofer Åström live tracks as well. Also, as I was so nicely informed by ex-drummer Janne Westerberg, those live Breach tracks are actually from 1997, not 1998 as they were originally labelled.

Sanctum celebrates their 10 year anniversary with the free Internet rerelease of the "Clarify" CDR EP that they sold on their 2001 US tour. The disc includes three tracks from the very excellent "[~]" 10" as well as other material the band felt was good, just not good enough for a 'full scale' release. Anyhow, since enough people seemed interested in the music, here it is again for your enjoyment: http://www.ratblast.net/cc/node/view/57

Sanctum promises to do something special to celebrate the group's tenth anniversary on September 10: http://www.ratblast.net/cc/node/view/54

Crescens Collective, home of Sanctum and Mago, finally have their new website online: http://www.ratblast.net/cc/

Streaming playlist: Nothing special

Sanctum - Let's eat (Cold Meat Industry)
I don't listen to too much heavy electronic industrial music anymore and after a slightly disappointing Skinny Puppy show a few weeks ago, it's nice to hear something new from a band in the genre that kicks my ass. I've always known Sanctum to be a good band and made myself overlook some of the cheesy moments of their first album "Lupus in fabula" so I could appreciate them. Thankfully, those moments never recur here. A lot of the neoclassical influences have been ditched as well and replaced with a rawer and more droning sound, as showcased on the "NYC bluster" live album. There are still plenty of string and piano passages, but I feel like the emphasis has been shifted more towards rhythm and atmosphere. The move works. Just don't wait another 8 years to do the next one, okay guys?

Sanctum
Let's eat
Cold Meat Industry

I don't listen to too much heavy electronic industrial music anymore and after a slightly disappointing Skinny Puppy show a few weeks ago, it's nice to hear something new from a band in the genre that kicks my ass. I've always known Sanctum to be a good band and made myself overlook some of the cheesy moments of their first album "Lupus in fabula" so I could appreciate them. Thankfully, those moments never recur here. A lot of the neoclassical influences have been ditched as well and replaced with a rawer and more droning sound, as showcased on the "NYC bluster" live album. There are still plenty of string and piano passages, but I feel like the emphasis has been shifted more towards rhythm and atmosphere. The move works. Just don't wait another 8 years to do the next one, okay?
- Avi Roig