Prior to Nausea, guitarist Victor Dominicis played in the hardcore punk bands Hellbent and Sacrilege. Nausea were involved in the New York City Lower East Side squatting community. Their earlier sound with singers Amy Miret and Neil Robinson was in the vein of hardcore punk. After Robinson's departure, he was replaced by Al Long and the band began to experiment with darker, metal influences. Robinson went on to form the bands Jesus Crust and Final Warning, as well as start Tribal War Records.