Messiah was formed in 1988 during London's acid house craze by college friends Ali Ghani and Mark Davies. When the pair met at an Iggy Pop concert, they decided to purchase some electronic equipment and make music for fun. When musical chemistry became evident, they began to get into the English techno and rave scene. The duo's brand of techno encompasses the aggression and volume of punk and the diva vocals of house music.

They had three UK Top 40 hits - Temple of Dreams (20, 1992), I Feel Love (19, 1992) and Thunderdome (29, 1993) and were one of the two non-MNO acts to be signed to Rick Rubin's WHTE LBLS - his failed attempt to popularise dance music in the US.

Following the collapse of Rubin's label, their final releases was the single Sway in 1996 and the album Messiah Presents Progenitor and single [m=421997], released under the name Messiah Presents Progenitor, in '97. Their sound had changed drastically and failed to gain the attention their debut had. The band split soon after.