[1] Church of Misery's musical style melds early Black Sabbath-style doom with psychedelic rock;[2] most of the band's songs are about serial killers and mass murderers.

Church of Misery formed in 1995 with a lineup of Mikami, vocalist Kazuhiro Asaeda, guitarist Tomohiro Nishimura and drummer Hideki Shimizu.

New singer Hideki Fukasawa joined in time for the band's second full-length album, The Second Coming, released in 2004 by Japanese label Diwphalanx Records.

Following the band's extensive summer tour, Fukasawa, Kawabe and Narita collectively quit, leaving Mikami as the only remaining member of the group.

Mikami recorded their sixth album, And Then There Were None..., that May in Maryland in the U.S. with session musicians Scott Carlson (ex-Cathedral, Repulsion), Eric Little (Earthride) and Dave Szulkin (Blood Farmers).

Mikami searched for new members, and vocalist Hiroyuki Takano (from Japanese sludge band Sithter) and guitarist Yasuto Muraki joined in 2015.

On April 24, 2017, it was announced via the band's website and Facebook page that drummer Junichi Yamamura had been added as an official member, with the message "Church of Misery rises again!"

As a reoccurring trend with Church of Misery, line-up changes continued yet again with vocalist of about 7 years, Hiroyuki Takano, who also left the band for "personal reasons" in November 2022.