Panchiko are a four-piece indie rock band from Nottingham, England consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Owain Davies, guitarist and keyboardist Andrew “Andy” Wright, bassist Shaun Ferreday, and a drummer named John. Panchiko’s members were childhood friends with cheap equipment, who founded the band in 1997 as teenagers. On 21 July 2016, a 4chan user reported that they had found a copy of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L in an Oxfam charity store in Sherwood, Nottingham. The songs, affected with disc rot, were shared via Mega and Zippyshare download links. The record became a cult classic through circulation on the Internet such as through the YouTube channel dismiss yourself, until Owain and the other members of Panchiko were contacted by their fans through Facebook.

The band released their “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L” EP in 2000, which was recorded in their room, as well as another EP titled “Kicking Cars“. On February 16, 2020, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L was remastered and re-released online along with three tracks from Kicking Cars by the band, exactly 20 years after its official release.