Evildead was formed in 1987, after guitarist Juan Garcia and bassist Mel Sanchez left Agent Steel, with the intention to do music more in a thrash metal vein than their old band, which had a speed metal sound. Evildead followed a Vio-lence/Sacred Reich style, with lyrics exploring political and social themes mixed with horror/nuclear war themes. They took their name from the Sam Raimi horror film The Evil Dead.