''Refuge Denied'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

, released on April 26, 1988 by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

Background

After having recorded their first demo,

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Lenny Rutledge managed to establish contact with singer and guitarist

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...

after a show of his band,

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

. Mustaine expressed interest in the demo and in acting as producer. Mustaine's manager at the time, Keith Rawls, financed the recording and finally became Sanctuary's manager. Talks to a number of record labels led to the signing with

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

Release

The song "Battle Angels" was used in the 2009 video game ''

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, ...

''. The album was re-released in 2010 together with successor album '' Into the Mirror Black'' as double CD by reissue label IronBird via Cherry Red. The song “Battle Angels” was featured in the fourth episode of the first season of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series, '' The OA'', “Away”.

Track listing

Personnel

Sanctuary

* Warrel Dane – vocals * Lenny Rutledge – guitar, backing vocals * Sean Blosl – guitar, backing vocals *

Jim Sheppard James Patrick Sheppard (born May 8, 1961) is an American musician. He was the bassist and founding member of the progressive metal band, Nevermore, and its predecessor, Sanctuary.Mustica, Giorgio.An Interview with Jeff Loomis: Cooling The Burn ...

– bass * Dave Budbill – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

– backing vocals, guitar solo (6), production * James Overaa (credited as James Overa) – backing vocals * Rich Furtner – backing vocals

Technical personnel

* Paul Lani – production (6), mixing *

Terry Date Terry Date (born January 31, 1956) is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in rock genres, especially heavy metal. He is well known for his work with Metal Church, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Overkill, Pantera, Dark Ang ...

– engineering * Mike Amstadt – assistant engineering * Don Grierson – executive production * Lynn DeBon – photography * Ed Repka – cover art

References

{{Authority control 1988 debut albums Sanctuary (band) albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Paul Lani Albums with cover art by Ed Repka