Loudblast is a French death metal band, originally from Lille, in the North. They are one of the pioneering groups of the French metal scene. Formed in 1985 in Lille, in the North with singer and guitarist Stéphane Buriez, guitarist Nicolas Leclerq, bassist François Jamin and drummer Joris Terrier. Their first two demos — Behind the Dark Mist (1985) and Ultimate Violence (1986) — distributed via relentless tape trading across the planet, allowed the group to get noticed in 1986 with the release of the now cult split LP Licensed to Thrash, which it shared with Agressor. In 1989, the group released their first album, Sensorial Treatment, and opened for bands like Coroner, Watchtower, Sacred Reich and Manowar.