SANCTION are a Progressive Metal band who incorporate elements idiomatic of 90's Progressive Death Metal with Modern Progressive Metal. Their debut album "The Overview Effect" is a meditation on changing perspectives, measures of personal improvement, and the ephemeral nature of life. The album contains seven tracks.

"Monolith; The Ebon Form" leads off the album. It's a short, two-minute blast. It comes at you like a spooked python, ready to squeeze the life out of you...heavy, Technical Death Metal with harsh vocals. "The Overview Effect" is similar in sound. Super tight riffing, bass and drums under a bed of garbled harsh vocals. It is nearly devoid of melody. Some nifty meter shifting occurs throughout the song. It's almost too much to keep up with. "Between the Increments" is another bruising, punishing song, featuring some spoken words for vocals in the beginning, which lead to angry, raging vocals.

"Mote of Dust - Part 1: Pale Blue Dot" is another shorter song, done with pure intensity. Spoken words are the medium for which the lyrics are carried in this song. "Mote of Dust - Part 2: The Enveloping Dark" is over five minutes in length. It's controlled chaos, as the band takes you for a train ride, twisting and turning over the tracks through hills and dark forests, making you confront your fears and all the bad emotions that are oft not spoken of. The voices inside your head nearly drive you mad.

"From Whence We Came" is just under seven-minutes in length. Acoustical guitars make a brief and unexpected entrance in the beginning, then it's back to the pulverizing style of Progressive Death Metal, complete with keys and some meter shifts that are done with prefect timing. "Vestige" closes the album, with a similar sound as the previous tracks. The jabs, hooks, and uppercuts keep coming at you, raining hell fire as they strike you over and over. There is no pause button for the band...they just don't let up anywhere on the album.

The musicianship of the band is impeccable. But, I think as I grow older, my music tastes are softening a bit, because this was a little over the top for me. It was seven songs of pure brutality that was relentless in its attack. I really wasn't able to pick up on any Modern Progressive Metal sounds. Maybe with a few more listens? I know there are a multitude of Metal fans who would love this album, but as I said, it was just not for me. Being as objective as I can, I would call it a good album, nothing more and nothing less.