Light Fantastic
It is indeed that time again ducklings that we welcome a new band under our wings and offer companionship and warmth in these darkest of times. All the way from NYC here are Sanction who shed further light on the murkiest corners of our world, showing us what we would rather not see as our lives have already been saturated by misery. We are soaked to the bone by life’s struggles, our own inadequacies, and the constant bombardment of everyone else’s ‘perfect’ world via social media. I must say that social media seems more anti-social as we vie for attention in the most frivolous of instances, demeaning ourselves and dragging everyone down with us.
This record, ‘Broken In Refraction’ is a series of abrupt yet abrasive shocks that leave you feeling like you have had a concrete slab dropped on your head, it is a punisher. The question is, will we ever learn? What have we become that kindness, empathy, humility, charity, have all left on the last bus, never to return?
The songs here are reminiscent of Lotus Eater, the UK side of this brutal, high energy, chase you down a dark alley music.
The imagery in ‘Paralysis’ is quite troubling and sinister with the red and black colour scheme and being located in a dark room. Flicking and zooming from one shot to the next, it heightens the fear in the audience.
Looking for ‘Answers from A Syringe’ is not a happy prospect my friends, but unfortunately it is a source of comfort for some as we have ‘a fractured will to live’.
One can only imagine the suffocation of being ‘Conscious In A Coma’ an utterly despairing and crestfallen, alive yet not living set of circumstances.
Enmeshed in the rigours and trauma of anxiety and depression which are commonplace now, it is these musicians who wrestle with the tough issues and attempt to make sense of them.
‘Shattering Man’ for me evokes feelings of imminent death and the appearance of a light, is it a ray of hope? Does it hold another meaning that we have not understood?
We end with one line that sends shivers down your spine,
‘your eyes stare back as I dream of death’ and retreat into our battered shell of an existence, to contemplate our next move.
Likened to when the doctor is about to administer an injection’ deep breath, sharp scratch….
Azra Pathan
Sanction – Broken In Refraction out now via Pure Noise Records