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Released on November 13, 2015 via Relapse Records
Sacrilege are a legendary and very influential band in both hardcore punk and metal circles with their mixture of d-beat aggression, vicious thrashy riffs, lyrics about radical politics, corruption of power and the threat of nuclear war and singer Lynda ‘Tam’ Simpson’s anguished and powerful vocal style. The band have recently got back together to gig and record the first new material since 1989’s Turn Back Trilobite LP and Relapse Records have just reissued and remastered their classic 1985 album Behind The Realms Of Madness along with a number of demos from the band, live tracks and some brand new tracks to whet the listeners appetite for a new album.
Behind The Realms Of Madness still stands up today, 30 years after it was originally released and the remastering on this release, which was done by Brad Boatright (who has also worked with Obituary and Sleep), doesn’t diminish the original recordings power and only enhances it with the album sounding fresh and the lyrical themes are sadly still as relevant as they were 30 years ago.
The album kicks off with the frenzied ‘Lifeline’, a track that sees the full blitzkrieg of the Sacrilege sound at full blast and you can hear the devastating full effect of Simpson’s vocal prowess while the band and in particular the frenetic guitar work of Damian Thompson provide the perfect marriage of noise and power.
The rest of the album is no less powerful as the opening with the likes of the more metallised ‘Shadow From Mordor’, the speedy blast of ‘A Violation Of Something Special’ and the classic ‘The Closing Irony’ all sounding as heavy as ever and prove that the high regard in which Sacrilege were held in was totally justified.
The two new tracks on this reissue ‘Feed’ and ‘Dig Your Own Grave’ show that the passing years have not done anything to alter both the bands sound and outlook with Sacrilege sounding as good as ever and on the strength of these new tracks, the new album will be a cracker. The first of the new tracks ‘Feed’ is a slow burning angry dirge while ‘Dig Your Own Grave’ is a straight ahead hardcore punk monster of a track and show that Simpson’s vocals sound just as intense and unhinged as they did the bands heyday while the rest of the band thrash through the tracks like a band just starting out rather that her a band who first formed 30 years ago, in fact their experience as musicians shines through.
The live and demo tracks that are included on the release demonstrate just how raw Sacrilege were (witness the demo recordings of ‘The Captive’ and ‘Sight Of The Wise’ for proof) and serve as a nice reminder of the DIY approach of the 80’s underground scene with the live versions of the brutal assault ‘The Closing Irony’ and an especially ferocious run through of ‘Bloodrun’ demonstrating a band firing at all cylinders.
The fact that Sacrilege are back and with a new album forthcoming, this re-release comes at the perfect time so take a look back and enjoy the history one of the greatest punk/metal bands this country has ever produced before we look to the future through the eyes of the mighty Sacrilege.
