Sacrilege is a band from the Midlands region of England originally formed in 1984 by guitarist Damian Thompson and vocalist Lynda "Tam" Simpson and Tony May. Originally rooted in hardcore punk, their sound later changed to thrash metal and doom metal. Despite having played relatively few gigs during their original existence, Sacrilege is recognized as an important band, both as an influence on later crust punk, thrash metal and doom metal bands and as an example of the blending of hardcore punk, radical politics, and thrash/death metal that occurred during the mid-1980s, making Sacrilege one of the prototypical crust punk (that term not coined then) bands of the time. In July 2014, Sacrilege announced work on a brand new album, tentatively titled Emptiness Intoxication after a 25-year hiatus. The line-up includes its founding members Tam and Damian, as well as Frank Healy (bass) and Spike T. Smith (drums); it is the same line-up that recorded Turn Back Trilobite, the band's last official release in 1989. History Prior to the formation of Sacrilege, guitarist Damian Thompson and drummer Andrew Baker released a pair of D-beat punk demos under the moniker Warwound. In 1983, the duo joined The Varukers. Damian left the Varukers after less than a year in 1984 to form Sacrilege with Lynda 'Tam' Simpson (vocals), Liam Pickering (drums), and Tony May (bass). In 1984 and 1985, the band recorded demos and contributed tracks to the compilations We Won't Be Your Fucking Poor (Mortarhate, 1985) and Anglican Scrape Attic (a pre-Earache release from Digby Pearson). The band also played several gigs at this time alongside bands such as Chumbawamba, Antisect, D.I.R.T, Icons of filth, Concrete Sox, Indecent Assault, etc., supporting causes from the 1984 miners strike to squatters rights. After replacing drummer Liam Pickering with Andrew Baker, Sacrilege recorded their first album, Behind the Realms of Madness in July 1985 at Rich Bitch studios in Birmingham. The album was an uncompromising mix of Damian Thompson's down tuned riff laden guitar, Lynda 'Tam' Simpson's screaming (almost anguished) vocals, along with powerhouse drumming and bass. It drew from early influences such as Discharge and Crass, and the newly emerging thrash/death metal sound of Metallica, Venom, and Slayer. The lyrical content, though, was far from typical for metal bands; subject matter such as global power corruption, inequality, world poverty, and the (then constant) threat of nuclear war was paramount were woven by Lynda