Spurred by the strange belief that the art of grinding originated in Japan over 2,000 years ago (and also by self-diagnosed psychotic tendencies), Christof Kather (drums) and Klaus Nicodem (guitar) founded Japanische Kampfhörspiele in 1998. Penning all lyrics in their native German, the duo (whose name roughly translates into "Japanese Combat Radio Plays") then proceeded to record over eight albums' worth of self-labeled "grindpunk" over the next four years, including an Internet-only EP containing twisted revisions of songs by Death, Slayer, and a-ha. Additional musicians Markus Hoff (vocals), Daniel Schaffrath (guitar), and Marco Bachmann (bass) were hired in 2003 so that the band could start performing live, and their contributions were also heard on the following year's Fertigmensch EP. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia