This time, Lachryma Christi had the pleasure of interviewing Aries from Thy Sanatorium. Thy Sanatorium is a Black Metal from London, UK. And I'm sure you'll be surprised to find out, that the band formed only last year, and already have an album out! Yes, that is true! Self titled album Thy Sanatorium came out in April.
Thy Sanatorium are extremely creative, and their ideas revolve a lot around horror themes, both of the collective imagination but also from life in general. Their music is melodic, also aggressive of course, symphonic, with a pinch of gothic elements. It's haunting and beautiful. Now, let's keep on reading, as it is quite interesting!
Thy Sanatorium play quite a different type of metal, since it is a mix of various styles, such as Black Metal and Goth, plus the horror themed songs. How would you describe your music?
We don't know haha! It's been difficult for us to categorize what we do as like you said it's a mix of different styles. We are definitely influenced and fans of Black Metal, Death Metal and alike but we also loves The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Tribulation and many others that seem to be outside of those genres. So we are leaving up to those who listen to the music to categorize us. So how would you describe our music?
[For Lachryma Christi it sounds very much like Symphonic Black Metal :)]
Is the horror a planned permanent theme for Thy Sanatorium, or are you expecting to explore other realms in the future?
I'm a big horror movie fan, in fact it is a bucket list dream of mine to work on the sound and score for a horror movie one day. In the meantime I wanted Thy Sanatorium to have a horror theme but not limited to what people think horror is. Yes it can be vampires and monsters, but also the horrors of reality and things we deal with daily in everyday life. There is so much to cover and write about. For now I believe Thy Sanatorium will focus on those themes.
The band is relatively recent. How did it happen, for your first album Thy Sanatorium to come out so soon?
That's a testament to our creative chemistry and the talent of all involved. We started recording Torment in September of 2025. All of the instruments were done within a week, then RA delivered his lyrics and vocals in two days haha! At that point it was just one song. No plans to release an album. We released it on October 31st 2025 and went "That was fun! Shall we do another?" and just a month later we released The End Consumes. Both songs were received well which is when the idea of doing a full album started brewing and decided to continue writing and recording. Next thing you know we had another single out and a full album recorded. Not to give anything away but we've already started work on what's next.
How has your journey as a band been so far? Has it been easy? Difficult?
It's been creative, fun and surprising! Everything has just happened naturally and fallen into place. So in a way it seems easy but recording an album like Thy Sanatorium is not an easy thing to do. It felt easy because we are having so much fun with it!
So as mentioned, your debut album Thy Sanatorium came out last April. How has the reception been to it, so far?
The reception has been amazing, rewarding and surprising in many ways. We've been featured in some of the biggest online and print magazines with the overall majority of reviews in the 8/10 to 9/10 rating scale. But also we love hearing that those who have enjoyed connected with it and in a way found it real and relatable.
I've listened to the whole album, of course, and I couldn't stop noticing that Devil's Heart is so different. Almost as if it was from a different release. Why is that? Was it intentional?
Most of the lyrics and vocals were written by RA with Crux providing supporting vocals and backing vocals, but we really wanted a song were she could shine and write something from her perspective. So yes vocally and lyrically it differs for that reason, but I think stylistically it still fits within the Thy Sanatorium realm and flows well with the other songs.
From what I've read, currently Thy Sanatorium are Aries (guitars), Ra (vocals), and Crux (vocals). How does it work with the guest/session musicians? Is this a decision for the long term?
Myself (Aries), Ra and Crux are the core of the band but that doesn't mean Nyx, Remus and Pyxis won't be part of it anymore. We weren't expecting this to grow so quickly as it has and as we released the album and it started getting attention the three of them expressed they would still love to be part of it but not tied to it, which is 100% understandable. With that said I believe all involved with Thy Sanatorium will also be involved with the next album.
Do you guys play live? If so, do you have any shows planned for the near future to promote your album?
As of right now we have no plans on playing live, mostly because we are truly a multinational entity and getting the visas and permits alone to get all of us together would be a nightmare. We are spread across the USA, UK, Sweden, Algeria and Russia. But you never know! it could happen!
Where do you get your inspiration usually, in terms of composition itself, and also lyrics and imagery?
Oh lot's of different sources. Personally I am inspired by my favorite bands which you can obviously hear in the music (Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Opeth, Children of Bodom and alike) but I also enjoy Goblin, Death SS, Abysmal Grief and of course horror movie scores. RA has a more death metal background and he adds his own seasoning to it all and we have Crux who doesn't have an extreme metal background but she adds her own unique take on things. Lyrically we usually come up with a loose theme (anxiety, depression, war...) and Ra and Crux write their poetry.
Our imagery is very influenced by the old Italian horror movies from Argento and Bava, but also the classic 80's album covers from Metal Church, King Diamond and alike! That could change in the future though.
[Edit: I don't know if anyone in the band is into Carach Angren, but that was a band that popped in my head today, as I was listening to the album Thy Sanatorium again.]
It might be too soon for this, since your album just came out, but what are your next plans? What can we expect of Thy Sanatorium next?
I can say there will be more music videos. There will be another single being released, possibly in the fall and we have already started writing the next album. So expect a lot more music coming soon!
Would you tell people who are planning on starting a metal band nowadays to go for it? What's your advice?
Do it for the fun and love of it. Not for money, not for sales, not for attention or social media followers. Just write music like an artist paints a painting. You don't do it for an audience or in front of an audience. You do it for the love and passion of doing it. Anything else that happens after that is a bonus.
Thank you very much and all the best to The Sanatorium!
Thank you so much for the interview and amazing zine!
Also, very recently, Thy Santoruym released a cover of A-Ha's 1985 hair Take on Me.
You can now listen to it below. Enjoy!
