In September 1984, guitarist Jim Bachi, bassist Mike Buccel, drummer Chuck Kory[1][2] and vocalist Scott Knight[3][4] came together from various local New York bands to form Hittman in Huntington on Long Island.

For American metal listeners, Hittman's attachment to the label, which was again based only in Germany after a failed overseas expansion, was an obstacle, as they could only access the album via import.

Dirk Kennedy explained it with the circumstance that negotiations with American label Polygram Records were initially problematic because of the required takeover of the debut album, which in the meantime had been licensed extremely successfully by Roadracer Records, and that Steamhammer reacted angrily to the poaching attempt, and that because of personnel changes within the responsible Polygram department, this company also dropped out, which is why a stay with Steamhammer was necessary.

As a result of the legal trouble around the label affiliation, the band's upward trend faltered and the management dropped them.

[4] With new drummer Mark Jenkins, the album Vivas Machina was instead tackled in November 1991, completed in May 1992, mixed in July, announced for August 1992, and released in the last days of January 1993.

As an explanation, Kennedy stated that producer Bob St. John had to handle several jobs at the same time, including the priority production of the Extreme CD III Sides to Every Story.