***Although BLASPHEMY's recorded output was limited, its endurance over the last three decades is a testament to its originality and extremity, and it all began with the Blood Upon the Altar demo. The band’s origin was unremarkable but auspicious. In 1984, founding members Nocturnal Grave Desecrater and Black Winds and 3 Black Hearts of Damnation and Impurity, who lived near one another and were already acquainted, began playing music together, mostly working on cover songs. They soon recruited Caller of the Storms and Black Priest of the 7 Satanic Blood Rituals to complete the original lineup. After briefly adopting the name Antichrist, the band eventually settled on the simple and iconic name Blasphemy and began writing songs. They refined their sound and focused their songs during live rituals over the next several years, although the lineup would fluctuate slightly when Black Winds did a brief stint in jail, and Bestial Savior of the Undead Legions briefly assumed bass duties. Black Winds soon rejoined the fold, and Blasphemy entered Fiasco Bros. studio in 1989 with an $800 budget. They emerged having produced one of the most devastating demo recordings ever made. Blood Upon the Altar ushered in a new style of Black Metal, no less dark or evil than their contemporaries, but more confrontational, more violent.