Guitarist Andr Steinmann and drummer Benjamin Khnemund started a group named Metmachines, acquiring second guitarist Steven Holl and bassist Justin Schler a short time later. Even before the year was out, they had renamed themselves Today Heaven's Dying, and then assumed their present, one-word moniker by 2006, at which time their original vocalist had departed to make way for new frontman Robert Horn. This lineup - all of whom were still in their teens, incidentally - was responsible for Anima's self-produced first album, Souls of the Decedents, which secured the group a deal with local All Life Ends Records. But Anima was already working on new material soon after its release, and after posting five songs on their MySpace page, they attracted the attention of Metal Blade Records, which offered them a new contract and released the group's sophomore album, The Daily Grind, in 2008.