[1] The band's original name, Cloaca Maxima, Latin for the "Greatest Sewer", was taken from a footnote of H. P. Blavatsky's book Isis Unveiled.

The band played mainly fast hardcore punk with the vocals sung in English; the language, however, soon changed into Finnish.

The same year CMX performed for the first time outside of Tornio and its neighbouring areas, at Lieto punk rock festival.

[3] The album saw CMX largely abandon the hardcore style in favor of more accessible mainstream rock songs.

The album continued the trend towards mainstream audiences, which was criticized by the band's early hardcore fan base.

[7] "Pelasta maailma", the only single from the album, received some radio airplay and would later be covered by both Antti Tuisku and Vesa-Matti Loiri.

Discopolis (1996) was engineered with Pro Tools in the studio and made heavy use of sampling to edit the songs together from a set of short guitar riffs.

The first album with new drummer Tuomas Peippo, Vainajala (1998), was recorded in a cabin in Lapland and produced by Faith No More bassist Billy Gould.

[12] At the Provinssirock festival 1999, CMX announced that they intended to stop playing live in order to concentrate on their studio work.

[14] Dinosaurus Stereophonicus (2000) was CMX's nod toward 1970s progressive rock bands, such as King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Yes.

[15] A two-hour double album, it contains progressive elements not before associated with CMX: Three instrumental pieces, an emphasis on keyboards, long solos, and song lengths exceeding 10 minutes.

CMX's first number 1 single, the peaceful and melodic "Myrskyn ratsut" was released before the album and featured strings and steel guitar.

[16] By the time Isohaara (2002) was released, CMX had already abandoned the idea of becoming a full-time studio band and started touring again.

[17] The album was considered slightly heavier than its predecessor, and the guitar riffs of "Minne paha haudattiin" were compared to the music of Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus and Kotiteollisuus.

Although less present than on Dinosaurus Stereophonicus (2000), progressive influences hadn't been totally abandoned: The band uses a child choir on the title track and the uptempo rocker "Pohjoista leveyttä" contains a harmonica solo.

[23][24] Pedot (2005) showed some influences from contemporary rock bands such as Tool, A Perfect Circle and System of a Down, and combined straight rock songs with heavier and lighter elements, such as the minimalistic ballad "Eteläisen tähtitaivaan kartoitus" and the aggressive double bass drum sound of the title track.

[12] On the Tuuliajolla 2006 tour on lake Saimaa, CMX recorded a song in collaboration with fellow rock bands Kotiteollisuus and 51Koodia.

Ambiguosly named "Vapaus johtaa kansaa" ("Liberty Leading the People") was written by Yrjänä and released in 2006.

[12] CMX's following album, Talvikuningas (2007), was a space-themed rock opera and contains only one song, divided onto 12 tracks without pauses.

In Finland, CMX has won the Rumba magazine "Band of the Year" reader poll ten times.