Student Opens for Metal Icons

“Compared to the rest of the local music scene, we stick out,” says Vernon Meigs ’12 of his band Sanctum. Their sound is certainly unique compared to the chill, indie music commonly found in the Orlando area.

Sanctum prides itself on be­ing a progressive death metal band. Meigs stresses that the term “progressive” means that it is an “all encompassing sort of genre” with vocal stylings vary­ing often, so it differs from the standard death metal sound.

Meigs is a junior at Rol­lins and is a computer science major from Winter Haven, Fla. He heard about Sanctum from a mutual friend and after audi­tions became the official key­boardist for the group. He calls them great guys who all partici­pate in a collaborative writing process.

One of the best parts of be­ing in a band is the live shows, which Meigs calls a “very fun experience.” They like their shows to be interactive and peo­ple sometimes come on stage and sing along to the songs. They always close their shows with “Great Migration,” a song that makes the crowd go wild. On Dec. 18 they opened for Blind Guardian, with an audi­ence bigger than they had ever had before. Meigs mentions that it felt amazing having “a famous iconic band interacting with us as colleagues.”

Sanctum has a wide range of influences, from bands such as Winter Sun, Dark Tranquil­lityy, In Flames, Hibria, Judas Priest and Soundgarden.

As of now the band is writ­ing more songs and wants to veer in a slightly different di­rection, “not necessarily less brutality but more orchestral and melodic,” says Meigs. For example, in one of their songs, “Blood and Silver,” Meigs plays the keytar.

Sanctum has a demo, “Awakening,” that they record­ed earlier last year, and they are currently working on an EP that hopefully will be out in the later part of the year. All of their mu­sic, pictures and information on upcoming shows are available on their Facebook, Myspace, and ReverbNation pages.

They usually play in the Tampa area but do shows all around Florida and they may be playing in Georgia soon.

Their next concert will be at Local 662 in St. Petersburg where they will be opening for Psyaxis at their CD release par­ty.

Meigs and his band mem­bers are very serious about Sanctum and are looking at the “big picture.” Meigs comments, “We try to be something, and write deep songs. We’re not a forgettable noise.”