The group was formed in New Cross, south-east London in late 1981. All unemployed, and with listening tastes ranging from soul to classical music, they searched out whatever they could find to make music with, and for the most part this consisted of scrap metal salvaged from waste ground and derelict factories. The reason had as much to do with lack of money as it had to do with a dislike for conventional rock instruments. Originally, they used bass guitars and other conventional instruments, but these were fairly rapidly dropped as they obtained more industrial percussion, and found that these created a stronger and more consistent sound. Conceptually they made a stand against Thatcherism, Totalism and reactionary forces, prominently supporting the Miners' Strike in 1984 for example.

Besides using unconventional tools demanding physical and psychical strength from audience and performers alike they used more and more unconventional settings and presentations. Under the banner of Test Department Productions they staged various impressing and large scale events with befriended artists like 'The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom' or 'Goddodin'. In 1992 an offshot - NVA - was formed in Glasgow focusing on staged productions while the remaining core started to focus on music. In 2015 the archive documentary 'Total State Machine' as Book with CD / DVD was releaseed.

With 'A Good Night Out' they parted ways with Some Bizarre in late 1987 but kept their Ministry Of Power label, afterwards partly distributed by Jungle.
The rights for some of their music and can been seen listed as copyright holders be seen on the Test Dept. page.