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 & 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.