Sacrilege was formed in Birmingham in July of 1984. The original lineup consisted of singer Tam, guitarist Damian Thompson, bassist Tony May, and drummer Liam Pickering. In the summer of 1985, Pickering was replaced by Andy Baker. After several local performances, Sacrilege recorded their first demo tapes, which were well received 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 bands such as Broken Bones, English Dogs, and Discharge, fusing the energy of punk/hardcore with the finesse of metal riffing. The original pressing on C.O.R. is said to have sold 11,000 copies in Europe alone at the time of release, with another 15,000 copies sold through Pusmort in America.