The two brothers John (guitar, vocals) and Anthony Hadfield (bass, vocals) teamed up with multi-instrumentalist Philip Howard (flute, saxophone, organ, piano, vocals) and the German drummer Ellwood von Seibold in the late 1960s to form the British blues-rock band Pink Cheeks. They recorded a self-titled album, but it never made it beyond a 12-inch acetate. After renaming themselves Diabolus and expanding their musical style to include many further elements, the four-piece band were given a second chance to record an album. In 1971, they recorded their self-titled LP, produced by Hugh Murphy, at Sound Techniques Studio in London, but it was never released in the UK.

To expand their underground catalogue, the German record label Bellaphon seized the opportunity and released their eponymous debut album in Germany. The four brilliant musicians played a varied and creative mix of progressive, at times hard rock, typical English folk with clever flute solos and complex jazz-rock compositions, led by an excessive saxophone. Psychedelic influences round off the eight compositions imaginatively. The quartet then disappeared completely from the scene. The original Bellaphon release, which appeared only in Germany in 1971, is extremely hard to find and is one of those mega-rarities about which very little is known.