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.
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 1984 and 1985, the band recorded demos and contributed tracks to the compilations We Won't Be Your Fucking Poor (Mortarhate, 1985)[2] and Anglican Scrape Attic (a pre-Earache release from Digby Pearson).
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.
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 (Tam) Simpson into Tolkien-esque and metaphorical storylines (something then unheard of in underground punk circles, these themes continued through all three of their early albums).
Their second release, Within the Prophecy, which saw the band heading further into thrash metal territory, was recorded in January 1987, again at Rich Bitch Studios with engineer Rob Bruce and producer Mike Ivory.
After another change in which they replaced Brookes with new drummer Spike T. Smith, the new line-up recorded the band's third album, Turn Back Trilobite, issued in April 1989.
Several unofficial and sometimes poor quality bootleg releases of the band's back catalogue and early demos have appeared during their long absence much to the disappointment of founder members Damian Thompson and Lynda 'Tam' Simpson (who between them wrote the entirety of the group's musical and lyrical content).