Autopsy was formed in August 1987 by Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler, shortly after Reifert's departure from Death. The band recorded a demo that year, Demo '87, before Danny Coralles joined in 1988 immediately prior to the recording of their second demo, Critical Madness, and along with Reifert and Cutler, would be a constant in the band's lineup. The band signed to Peaceville Records and released their debut album, Severed Survival in 1989. These early recordings featured a pioneering death metal style that adopted a slower, doom metal influenced sound. The next full-length, Mental Funeral, continued in this style and has since been cited by many other death metal musicians as particularly influential. Having completed a successful European tour soon after Mental Funeral, the band reentered the studio to record the Fiend for Blood EP, which was followed by their third full-length, Acts of the Unspeakable, which featured shorter songs and a more grindcore influenced sound. A difficult US tour in 1993 led to the decision to disband Autopsy after the recording of a final album. Shitfun, released in early 1995, was heavily influenced by hardcore punk and would prepare fans for Abscess, previously a side-project of Danny Coralles and Chris Reifert, which would become their main band after Autopsy's demise.