Poison (German band)

The band was formed in 1982 by close friends Uli Hildenbrand, Armin Weber, Alex Gilliar, and Andy Krampulz. They were huge fans of the bands Venom (the name Poison comes from the Venom song of the same name), Hellhammer, and Sodom, which the band tried to emulate on many of their early demos. In 1984, the Sons of Evil demo was released by the band. The demo was mocked by fanzines, knocking it for its raw production and Venom/Hellhammer worship. A year later, the demo called Live Terror was released. This demo consisted of rough recordings of songs played at their first live gig in Kupferdächle in Pforzheim, Germany. Later that same year, they released their Bestial Death demo. That demo had songs that were more tightly knit together and at times more technical than their first output that was Hellhammer style punk-metal. That style is what the band would continue with for the rest of their career.[1][2][3]

In 1987, Poison partook on the Roadrunner Records sampler LP called Teutonic Invasion Part I and also a chance to be signed. By partaking in that, Poison was not allowed to talk or make deals with any other labels, which greatly hindered them. The only bands that got signed were Violent Force and Paradox that were on the Teutonic Invasion LP. Poison released one last demo called Into the Abyss before calling it quits. Into the Abyss was later re-released as a proper studio album by Midian Creations and then later by Iron Pegasus Records.[2]