Cancer was formed one night in 1988 in the Tontine public house in Ironbridge, Telford by drummer Carl Stokes, guitarist John Walker and bassist Ian Buchanan. The band quickly put together their first two-track demo, No Fuckin' Cover, at the Pits studio in Birmingham, owned by ex-Starfighters vocalist Steve Burton. The demo was produced by Stevie Young (nephew of AC/DC's Angus Young) and engineered by "Big" Mick Hughes (live sound engineer for Metallica). The band also began playing live, starting with their first gig in Birmingham opening for Bomb Disneyland, and including shows with the likes of Bolt Thrower, Cerebral Fix and GBH. A second demo session was recorded in 1989, and was followed shortly by the bootleg live album Bloodbath in the Acid, recorded at Wrexham Memorial Hall and pressed on the Headache label. However, No Fuckin' Cover had secured Cancer a deal with Vinyl Solution and in Winter 1989 the band recorded their debut album, To the Gory End, over four days at Loco Studios in Usk.