Band Biographies: ARCANUM SANCTUM

Russian melodic death metal band with Soviet sci-fi movie soundtrack approach. After two well-received albums of catchy uptempo melodic thrash-death metal with traditional harsh vocals the band decides to step aside from the beaten path and explore new grounds.This exploration turns into a breathtaking journey through space and time. The band finds its inexhaustible source of inspiration in the past. It's not a secret that things we encounter as kids leave the deepest traces in our souls. By a twist of fate all members of ARCANUM SANCTUM were born at the end of a so-called Golden Age of Space exploration and caught its echoes in a form of sci-fi books, movies, cartoons and associated soundtracks popular in their childhood. Still exciting and inspiring for the band, this theme determines the new direction its music takes on the third album.

Formed back in 2004 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (the Far East of Russia) as a brainchild of Vadim Nalivaiko, ARCANUM SANCTUM has remained the adept of melodic death metal throughout the years. Even with the debut recorded using a trial-and-error method in their home studio due to the absence of any more or less professional recording studio in their city the guys reach satisfactory level of quality. Actually, ‘Fidus Achates’ – the debut album of ARCANUM SANCTUM finished in January of 2009 – is the most proficient metal record made in their region back then. On this almost completely Russian-language album (except for one song – ‘Shadowed’) released by MORE HATE PROD. in 2010 and warmly welcomed by fans and press (Surprise of the month at www.metalreviews.com in August of 2010) the band takes traditional melodic death metal to heart and combines this sound with the elements of technical thrash metal and contrastingly deep melodic instrumentals – as stated by the press, the dynamic switch between aggressive melodic death metal and both acoustic and keyboard instrumentals is this album’s most captivating aspect.

Having no stable line-up yet inspired by warm reception of the debut, Vadim decides to focus on composing new songs for the follow-up album. ‘Veritas Odium Parit’ is released in December of 2012 by BUIL2KILL RECORDS under the auspices of the legends of technical death metal – SADIST (Italy). The album gets positive reviews worldwide. According to musical critics, ‘Veritas Odium Parit’ raises the band to a new level and proves its versatility and maturity – the songs are very melodic, and complex and find the converging point of aggression and technique with a progressive touch.

Enthusiastic about the band’s progress, Nikolay Kondratyev (drums, FALLCIE, ex- DEHYDRATED) comes on board even despite the 1150 km distance between his hometown (Vladivostok) and the base city of the band. With the new line-up, ARCANUM SANCTUM participates in MADE IN KOREA metal festival (Seoul, Republic of Korea).

Soon after the band gets in touch with Mort Prod. (China) and schedules a China tour for May- June of 2015. Along with playing shows in the Far Eastern region and preparing for the tour, Vadim develops a totally new album concept with a challenging approach to songwriting. After the China tour, the musicians decided to focus on new material occasionally playing some local shows. The new album is dedicated to Soviet science fiction with lyrics based on the works of the Soviet sci-fi writers and the music significantly influenced by the Soviet sci-fi movie soundtracks. The English language of the lyrics opens the worlds created behind the “Iron Curtain” to those who are not familiar with the Soviet school of sci-fi devoid of shopworn alien invaders and apocalyptic prophecies, while the deep majestic growls of the new vocalist Ivan Beschastny embody spiritual and physical strength of the men of the future. After a long, both physically and mentally demanding process of composing and recording the album is mixed and mastered at Unisound AB by the famous Dan Swanö. The album titled ‘Ad Astra’ was self-released by ARCANUM SANCTUM in the summer of 2020. This album has become the most successful release of the band so far. Besides two lyric videos and a guitar playthrough, the musicians make and release a promo video for the album’s title track – ‘Ad Astra’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbmYDXVWctk). However, the COVID-19 pandemic makes it impossible for ARCANUM SANCTUM to support the release with live shows.

At the beginning of 2024, ARCANUM SANCTUM commences the recording of a new EP.

Current line-up:

Ivan Beschastny – vocals

Vadim Nalivaiko – guitars

Roman Rysyev – guitars

Kirill Kulinichev – bass

Andrey Zotov – drums