Evolving from technical thrash metal to a more progressive, symphonic brand of metal with classical vocals and instruments, the innovative and avant-garde CCM group Believer formed in the late '80s.

Vocalist/guitarist Kurt Bachman and drummer Joey Daub are the only constants in the continually revolving lineup. Believer's debut album Extractions from Mortality (1989) also included guitarist Dave Baddorf, bassist Howe Kraft and violin playing by Scott Laird, but 1990's Sanity Obscure replaced Kraft with Wyatt Robertson and added the vocals of Julianne Laird Hoge.

In 1993, Believer was added to the Roadrunner stable for Dimensions, an album that included William Keller as the Voice. Bachman and Daub later put the group on indefinite hiatus while the two did production work for such artists as Turmoil and Living Sacrifice out of their Trauma Studios in Pennsylvania.