SACRILEGE - "BEHIND THE REALMS OF MADNESS" 12" mlp (180 gram / poster)

(FOUND A MSFILED COPY / RESTOCK ON THE WAY)

High Roller Records, 2nd pressing, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, poster,

180g black vinyl, ltd 500

Original vinyl transfer by Marcus Mossmann (R.I.P.) at PHONOGRAPHIC ARTIFACTS in March 2014.

Audio cleaning and mastering by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY in March 2022.

The ultimate reissue!

Tam - Vocals
Damian - Guitar
Tony - Bass
Andy - Drums

01 Lifeline
02 Shadow from Mordor
03 At Death's Door

04 A Violation of Something Sacred
05 The Closing Irony
06 Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Sacrilege was formed in Birmingham in July 1984. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Tam, guitarist Damian Thompson, bassist Tony May and drummer Liam Pickering. In the summer of 1985, Pickering was replaced by Andy Baker.
After a few local gigs, Sacrilege recorded their first demo tapes, which fell on open ears in the English punk/hardcore scene as well as in metal circles.

As a result, the small label C.O.R. (Children Of The Revolution Records) showed interest in the band. Sacrilege went into the studio to record the six songs "Lifeline", "Shadow From Mordor", "At Death's Door", "A Violation Of Something Sacred", "The Closing Irony" and "Out Of Sight" for the mini-LP »Behind The Realms Of Madness«. Musically, they followed the example of English groups such as Broken Bones, English Dogs and Discharge, fusing the energy of punk/hardcore with the finesse of metal riffing.

In the book »Contract In Blood – A History Of UK Thrash Metal« by Ian Glasper, guitarist Damian Thompson explains: "All of us in the band started listening to more metal, the usual suspects: Metallica, Slayer and Venom. But also older material like Black Sabbath and Pentagram ... even Deep Purple! One band influenced us massively from the beginning, namely Trouble, who did their very own thing; I admired that very much."

»Behind The Realms Of Madness« was hardly advertised, but the reactions of the press were excellent. While the band barricaded themselves in the rehearsal room and wrote new material, articles appeared in Kerrang! and Metal Forces. In addition, sacks of fan mail arrived from all over the world.

At the time of publication, 11,000 copies of the original pressing on C.O.R. are said to have been sold in Europe alone, plus another 15,000 copies via Pusmort in America.

label: High Roller records, import