before defecation started, mick was the drummer for napalm death, and mitch was the guitarist for righteous pigs. the two were pen pals and decided to start the project. they formed defecation in 1987 and released "purity dilution" on nuclear blast records in 1989. shortly after the release of "purity dilution", mick left the band, as well as napalm death in 1991. mitch harris and jesse pintado joined napalm death, and defecation was put on hold for a while. fourteen years after the first album was recorded, mitch made the second album completely by himself, entitled "intention surpassed".