UMUR
"Sanctimonious" is the second full-length studio album by German heavy metal act Attic. The album was released through Ván Records in August 2017. It´s the successor to "The Invocation" from 2012 and there´s been one lineup change since the debut album as drummer Roman Bittner has been replaced by J.P..
Stylisically "Sanctimonious" continues the strongly Mercyful Fate/King Diamond influenced heavy metal style of the debut album. Lead vocalist Meister Cagliostro has a voice and high pitched vocal style which are almost one to one like King Diamond´s ditto, and therefore it´s nearly impossible not to see Attic as a worship act. Thankfully they are an incredibly well playing band and the songwriting is also of a high quality. It´s 80s influenced heavy metal with the occassional nod towards faster-paced speed metal, filled to the brim with hard rocking heavy metal riffs and rhythms, blistering leads and clever harmonies.
"Sanctimonious" is a concept album telling a gruesome story of a convent and the abuse and murders among the nuns. It´s a different story, but not completely unlike the story told on "The Eye" (1990) by King Diamond. The lyrics are well written and the story is engaging. If I have to make one critique the album is maybe slightly too long for its own good featuring a total playing time of 64:04 minutes.
"Sanctimonious" features an organic, raw, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s a high quality release through and through. I still think it´s a bit odd to dedicate your music career to imitating another artist as much as Attic do, but when the quality is as high as it is here, I´m a bit more inclined to let the clone factor slide and just enjoy the music for what it is. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.