Long-running speed metal band Hades was originally formed in 1978 by vocalist Paul Smith and guitarist Dan Lorenzo, then high schoolers in Paramus, NJ. A 1982 opening date for Twisted Sister greatly raised the band's local visibility, and with drummer Tom Coombes and bassist Lou Ciarlo on board, Hades issued its debut seven-inch Deliver Us from Evil. Appearances on the Metal Blade compilation Metal Massacre VI and Megaforce's Born to Metalize followed before the group -- now consisting of Lorenzo, Coombes, vocalist Alan Tecchio, guitarist Scott LePage and bassist Jimmy Schulman -- signed to Torrid Records and issued their debut LP Resisting Success in 1987. Guitarist Ed Fuhrman replaced LePage for the 1988 follow-up If at First You Don't Succeed, but while touring Europe Hades disbanded; Lorenzo soon formed a new group, Non-Fiction, which issued its debut EP Green in 1989. After a stint with the group Watchtower, Tecchio returned to New Jersey and joined Non-Fiction as well; each year, Hades also played a reunion show at Newark's Studio One (1991's show yielded the Live on Location disc), and when Non-Fiction dissolved upon completing their album It's a Wonderful Life, Lorenzo and Tecchio reformed Hades with Fuhrman, LePage (now on bass) and drummer Dave Lecsinsky. The reunion effort SaviorSelf followed in early 1999; The Downside appeared a year later.