Bloody Tears was formed in September 1998. The name was chosen as an allusion to the tears wept by the Virgin Mary. By then their line-up was: S. Couto (vocals), R. Shino (guitars), L. Barroso (drums), and H. Shino (bass). S. Couto left the band a while later, having R. Shino taken over the vocals. Crisanta Freitas (keyboards) got in, but was quickly replaced by Rui Rocha, who later decided to also leave the band, five weeks before going into the studio. They decided not to get a new keyboard player and got another guitar player instead, Luis Lisboa (ex Winter Cry, ex Amorak). In 2001 they released their debut demo CD �Chapter XIII� and played several gigs. Meanwhile H. Shino left the band.