In physics, the term “refraction” refers to the deflection of a wave, such as light or sound, as it passes through a medium. It’s a phenomenon Sanction aim to replicate with their ear-shattering metalcore. In 2017, these Long Island natives–vocalist David Blom, guitarists Mike Marino and Andrew “Lumpy” Wojcik, bassist Ryan Stephenson, and drummer Dillon “Lil D” Perino–released an EP called The Infringement of God’s Plan, a boisterous amalgamation of breakdowns that speak of apocalyptic disorder titled. In an interview with Exclaim!, Marino, who writes the bulk of the band’s material, said he typically starts out with a song name and lets his creativity flow from there, and that he designed The Infringement around five “fractions” or connected fragments. The following year Sanction signed with Pure Noise, becoming part of its roster of up-and-coming hardcore bands (including Knocked Loose and Sanction’s current tour companions, SeeYouSpaceCowboy); the label reissued the EP and then released their debut full-length, 2019’s Broken in Refraction. The album builds on the concepts of disintegration they explored on The Infringement, even borrowing the EP’s title for a line in “The Final Fraction” (“The infringement of god’s plan,” Blom screams, “Staring back through broken glass”). Throughout the EP, Sanction paint vivid pictures of atrophy, disease, and mental illness. In “Answers From a Syringe,” which Marino told Revolver last fall had been inspired by the heroin epidemic sweeping the band’s hometown, an addiction becomes increasingly debilitating, even as a single dose offers temporary respite from life’s problems. Blom matches the rage and terror provoked by such a sharp decline with cracks in his voice as he screams over staccato guitar squeals that mimic the thumping rhythm of a heartbeat. The world that Sanction have built with Broken in Refraction is in chaos, and it gives you the feeling that their heavy, send-you-to-the-hospital violence isn’t just a sound–it’s a warning. v
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