EXCRUCIATION was an early example of Swiss Death / Thrash. Founded during late 1984 in Zurich the band was initiated by Joe Venegas and guitarist Mat Arani, soon being joined by lead vocalist Eugi Meccariello, Did Lowinger and Marc Bosshart. In April of 1985 this formation recorded the opening 'Fourth Rider Of The Apocalypse' demo, although this session was never made public. In September of that year Arani was replaced by Andrea Renggli.

In February of 1986 the band released their first demo, 'First Assault', and ater that same year thier label debut came out, an EP called 'Last Judgement' on the Chainsaw Massacre Record label, an affiliate of We Bite Records label. Shortly after Venagas left the band. EXCRUCIATION continued on as a four-piece for a couple of years and released another demo in the summer of 1988, 'Prophecy Of Immortality', recorded in March and April with the band laid down nine new tracks. Another year passed and EXCRUCIATION recorded a fourth demo called 'The Abyss Of Time', in October of 1989. Soon afterward Greg Hauser was added on second guitar.

Yet another demo surfaced in December of 1990 called 'Act Of Despair'. The long years of work finally paid off to a small degree because the band was finally signed to the Turbo/JL America concern. EXCRUCIATION entered DNS Studios and remixed the 1988, 1989, and 1990 demos to release them as a set billed 'Anno Domini - An Anthology Of The Past' The collection also included one live track called 'Wardance'.