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This is the Ministros Del Santuario Official website. It was made as a tribute to one of Central America's best old school Death Metal bands that is no longer active, but brings to you a powerful Christ-Centered message. (1996 - 2002). Under both the Dysmorphic Records (Panama / U.S.A) and Rotting Records (U.S.A) labels, this page offers extensive information about this ex-band.
Biography (Concept and Pre-History)
The name Ministros del Santuario is Spanish for "Ministers of the Sanctuary." It was taken by Pablo Moran in 1995 as he envisioned a death metal style band that could be started in Panama City, Panama. He had been listening to a lot of older Christian extreme metal bands and felt the calling to start such a band.
The name of the band was chosen from a Bible Scripture Hebrews 8:1-2 (The High Priest of a New Covenant). Here is the Scripture in English (NIV): "The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in Heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man." (By high priest, the scripture is referring to Jesus Christ. So in essence, he serves in the sanctuary in Heaven) I am not an expert on Theology or Hermeneutics, but what I believe is that the band that Pablo envisioned would strive to follow the ministry of Christ on earth, therefore making the future band he envisioned as "Priests of the Sanctuary." (In the Spanish bible, "priest" is replaced by "minister," hence the band name Ministers of the Sanctuary. In Spanish, as stated before, this would mean Ministros del Santuario.)
Pablo (Spanish for Paul) had grown up in The Republic of Panama, originally of Ecuadorian descent. He was 15 at the time of his musical ideas, mostly inspired by the band Mortification. (side note: At age 14 I had heard Mortification being played on the radio and mentioned as a Christian band. My friend JP and I both looked at each other and said sarcastically, "Yeah, right." In my mind, however, I thought this was a very innovative concept, as I grew up in a Catholic family where blasphemy was looked down upon. Ignorantly, I viewed metal as blasphemous as a whole and listened to Nirvana and other grunge acts. It's just a product of social prejudice. Little did I know that almost 3 years later, I would be involved in a musical revolution partly inspired by the band Mortification and others such as Living Sacrifice, Vengeance Rising, Believer, and Sacrament, which were Pablo's favorite bands.) Prior to my decision to live an active Christian lifestyle and my involvement in Ministros del Santuario, I had not yet been exposed to Christian metal. I didn't really know about it. When presented to me in late 1997, I thought it was one of the best ideas i'd ever heard, mostly because I was semi-well known in the hard music scene in Panama and became sick of the blasphemy, shallowness, and nihilistic negativity in bands that I was in.
(1996) Pablo, before finally finding me as a drummer, had tested various musicians only to find that none of them fit the mold of what he wanted and expected. He had met the twins Senaquerib and Siboulet (vocalists) at a church hangout and had also med Elias the bassist, whom I used associate with when it came to secular bands. I did not know that Elis was a Christian. One day, he recited a verse from scripture while hanging out. It was, "Those who exalt themselves shall be humbled, and those who are humble shall be exalted." It hit me that this was a very good piece of advice, and when I learned that it was God's word I took it very well. (I grew up in a Christian (predominantly Catholic) household, so scripture was very important.) At that time, though, I wasn't very interested in getting too much into the Christian lifestyle because I didn't know what it was about. I guess the world makes it to be a fanatical image. It was not rejection by my part, and it was just a matter of time before I reached my final destination. Ministros del Santuario was now almost complete, with Edwin Zapata entering as rhythm guitarrist. All they needed was a drummer. They prayed for this.
All Ministros Del Santuario Cds are out of print and are not sold anywhere.
