Just because they're called Sacrifice doesn't mean they're willing to compromise.

If anything, the reunited Canadian thrash-metal legends are just as adamant about sticking to their guns the second time around.

"When we got back together, we set down some ground rules," explains singer-guitarist Rob Urbinati from his Toronto home. "We wouldn't pursue this if it wasn't great. We would stop if we thought people would hear what we doing and say it was crap compared to our old stuff."

That could have been a pretty tall order. Back in their late '80s heyday, Sacrifice -- Urbinati, guitarist Joe Rico, bassist Scott Watts and drummer Gus Pynn -- were celebrated, along with Razor, Voivod and Annihilator, as the kings of the Canadian metal scene. And their first three albums -- 1986's Torment in Fire, 1987's Forward to Termination and 1991's Soldiers of Misfortune -- were possessed by an evil intensity and technical proficiency that could give Slayer and Metallica a run for their blood money.

But even a cursory spin of their new CD The Ones I Condemn will let you know loud and clear that they're back, with all their hellish frenzy and bloodthirsty menace intact. It's their first recording together in 18 long years, but for all intents and purposes, it picks up right where they left off. That's no accident, says Urbinati.

"We wanted to revisit the old days of thrash," he says. "And we really wanted it to be instantly recognizable as a Sacrifice album. So the songs had to be fast and they had to be heavy. And one thing we were really adamant about was to record it real -- without the new studio trickery like drum triggers and AutoTuned vocals. We wanted to do it all organically. And I feel like this is the best performance I've ever done vocally.

"We just had the right mindset. We were really focused and had a good direction. A lot of bands from our era have got back together and released an album, and I'll get it as a fan and think, 'This isn't cutting it.' I didn't want that to happen with us."

Ironically enough, Sacrifice's high standards are one of the reasons they haven't been heard from in a generation. When they first got together as teens in the mid-'80s, Urbinati says, it was all about the music. "We would never have imagined Metallica and Slayer would be as big as they are now. We just did it because we loved it. We weren't thinking about being the next Van Halen."

And when the '90s came along and grunge took over, most bands either sold out and went commercial -- we're looking at you, Metallica -- got heavier and went underground, or tried to ride out the storm. True to form, Sacrifice refused to give in and pulled the plug instead. Rico moved to Detroit, Watts decamped to Vancouver and they got new jobs, new bands and new lives.

But a funny thing happened on the way to obscurity: The old fans never went away. And new ones kept on coming. So, after more than a decade of hibernation, the band reconvened for a one-off reunion gig in Toronto to 2006 to celebrate the rerelease of their back catalogue. In some ways, it was easier said than done, Urbinati admits.

"We learned that our songs are really difficult to play after 15 years away," he laughs. "Getting your thrash-metal chops back is really difficult. But when the four of us got back together the first time, it was like riding a bike. It clicked right away.

"And that gig ended up being probably the best show we ever played. I don't think we realized how many fans we still had. We would have kicked ourselves if we hadn't done it."

The one-off gig led to another show in Winnipeg the following year, which produced enough momentum to push the band back into the studio for The Ones I Condemn.

Now, they're repeating their two-city world tour -- this time in reverse order, with a show this Saturday at Garrick Centre with Propagandhi. That might seem like an odd billing, unless you've heard the local metalcore vets' latest CD Supporting Caste and the song The Banger's Embrace -- a love letter to the band from singer-guitarist Chris Hannah, who was at their 2006 reunion show.

Urbinati is happy to join the mutual admiration society.

"They sound nothing like Sacrifice, but they're somehow inspired by us, and that is amazing for us," he says. "I had no idea they did that song before I heard the CD. They sent me a copy and I put it on at home and I couldn't believe it. That's one of the best things I've ever got from being in Sacrifice."

And while fans might feel he and the band deserve a lot more, he's not bitter about the hand fate dealt them.

"We don't regret anything. It's the opposite; I'm happy with what we achieved. I would have never thought when I was 18 years old and recording our first album that people would still be listening to it in 2009. That in itself is amazing. There were a lot of bands that were successful back then that nobody gives a crap about anymore. If you're in it for the right reasons, you just want people to enjoy what you've done. And all this time later, people are still enjoying it."

Despite the renewed interest, he says the band has no desire to wade back into the trenches and make another grab for the brass ring.

"I couldn't imagine getting in a van and going on tour now," he says. "That's not appealing. We're happy with where we are. We're content to play a show here and there and have fun with it. We play every show like it is our last, because we really don't know -- it might be our last! But we feel like we did when we first got together; It's just four guys playing music and having fun. There's no pressure, there's no heavy business."

And no compromises.