Alonge announced plans to record the album on September 26, 2014, and launched an Indiegogo campaign with an initial goal of raising $12,000.

Alonge also announced that the album would be mastered by Joey Sturgis, a well-known metalcore producer that had worked with many bands, such as Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, I See Stars, and Of Mice & Men.

The band was first conceived in July 2013 in Jarrod Alonge's "Every Metalcore Vocalist" video,[4] before releasing two songs in late 2013 and 2014: a demo version of "I'm So Scene" and a 10-hour instrumental breakdown loop titled "Eternity (Literally)".

"I'm So Scene" featured unclean vocals by YouTuber Sky Sevart, and was composed by Alonge and his friends Benjamin Fleet and Blake Feagans, who used to play in a band called Ukulele and the Sock Monkeys.

On June 1, 2016, Alonge announced that Amidst the Grave's Demons would be releasing a five-song EP later in the month, featuring four band-specific parodies and an acoustic version of a track from Beating a Dead Horse.

The band performs four of the album's songs: "Love Me Back", "Take it Easycore", "Pop Punk Pizza Party", and "Goodbye Baltimore".

"Love Me Back" features guest vocals by Cody Carson of the band Set It Off, as well as a guitar solo by Steve Terreberry, a YouTube comedian and musician.

Sunrise Skater Kids released one song shortly prior to the album's conception: a demo version of "Pop Punk Pizza Party" featuring vocals by Patty Walters of the band As It Is.

The album features collaborations with JB Brubaker of August Burns Red, Dave Stephens of We Came as Romans, and Patty Walters of As It Is.

Although Chewed Up didn't release any original music prior to the album, they were created and referenced in Alonge's "Every Hardcore Vocalist" video in late 2013.

The name is also a play on "Pray for Plagues", the first track on Bring Me the Horizon's debut full length album Count Your Blessings.

The band's influences include Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral, The Promise Ring, American Football, Pedro the Lion, The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, and Braid.

Music videos for "Your Validation", "Ohio Is For Emo Kids", and "Great Again" were uploaded to Jarrod Alonge's YouTube channel in promotion of the album.

During the final stages of releasing Canadian Softball's full-length debut, Alonge uploaded a new track from Rectangles titled "Cryptanalysis".

Viewers were to decipher the hidden message in the song, and the first comment with the correct answer (which was “Send Nudes” spelled out with Morse code) won a prize pack featuring a Rectangles T-shirt, guitar strings, and more.

He dismisses the negative reception directed towards the band, as well as pedophilia accusations in reference to Blood on the Dance Floor vocalist Dahvie Vanity.

Beating a Dead Horse is primarily a comedy album, with each song parodying common themes found in various alternative genres.

The album's first track, "The Swimmer" by Amidst the Grave's Demons mimics the style of metalcore band Memphis May Fire, with the song's title and music video being a parody of "The Sinner".

The song concludes with a southern metal section, referencing the style Memphis May Fire had on their debut album, Sleepwalking.

"Save My Life" by Amidst the Grave's Demons mimics the uplifting, hopeful lyrics of bands such as We Came as Romans and The Color Morale (dubbed "hopecore" in many online communities), but does so with a narcissistic tone.

It was filmed at Warped Tour 2015 and featured guest appearances by multiple bands, including We Came as Romans, August Burns Red, Blessthefall, and PVRIS.

"Bite the Curb" by Chewed Up is a fast-paced hardcore punk song that satirizes bands that vainly attempt to have threatening and intimidating lyrics.

"Misogyneric" by Amidst the Grave's Demons mimics themes of betrayal found in many metalcore songs, and condescends to them by incorporating various internet memes into the lyrics.

The tenth track "The Distance Between You and Me is Longer Than the Title of This Song" by Canadian Softball is a parody of Midwestern emo bands in the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as American Football.

The end of the song also quotes several nonsensical tweets made by actor Jaden Smith that received viral attention online.

"Cosmic Metaphysical Verisimilitude" by Rectangles is a parody of djent-influenced bands, featuring unusual time signatures, unconventional song structure (with no discernible choruses or verses)[18] off-beat guitar riffs, and lyrics consisting of complex, yet nonsensical mathematical and scientific terminology.

by Amidst the Grave's Demons is a medley consisting of snippets of twenty-two different metalcore and post-hardcore songs, with lyrics focusing on plagiarism.

"Pray for Progress" by Vermicide Violence directly parodies Bring Me the Horizon, who shifted away from their well-known metalcore sound on their 2015 album That's the Spirit.

The song's title is a parody of "Pray for Plagues" from Bring Me the Horizon's debut album Count Your Blessings, and the band's first official single.

"Suck my 401k" by Amidst the Grave's Demons parodies Attila, making frequent use the high-speed screaming technique used in many of the band's songs.