The band, founded in 1970 in Wendelstein near Nuremberg and bearing the bizarre name P205 (a chemical compound known as phosphorus pentoxide), toured mainly in southern Germany. With their unique live shows, featuring burning torches, a marble cross and sinister costumes, they achieved considerable popularity. After a number of earlier recordings, which were not released until the 1990s, they recorded their first and only LP at the Tonstudio Brutkasten in November 1978. At that time, the quintet consisted of guitarist Konny Hempel, keyboardist Wolfgang Burkhard, singer Werner Weiß, bassist Helmut Hiebel and drummer Eddy Lotter.

Their debut album, with the even more eccentric title Vivat Progressio Pereat Mundus, was released in the same year on the now highly sought-after collector’s label Brutkasten. It presents a broad musical spectrum, with lyrics entirely in English, ranging from organ-heavy progressive sounds to hard rock with psychedelic elements. Even after numerous line-up changes, the band never managed to make a major breakthrough, and the project came to an end in 1982. Due to an extremely small edition of just 300 copies, original pressings are now extremely rare and represent an obscenely expensive collector’s item.