Totem Skin was formed in 2012 by guitarist Christoffer Oster, who wrote some songs and was joined by vocalists Henrik Dahlqvist and Glenn Zettersten for their recording. The band's name is based on a lyric from the song "Tauntrum" from Document No. 12 by Pg. 99. They abandoned their original intention to exist as a studio band, asking guitarist Jesper Sundström and drummer Sebastian Engström to perform live with them in the winter of 2012/2013 while recording their second EP. By March, the band transformed into a sextet with the addition of bassist Jonas Axelsson. At this point, they had already self-released two EPs, both mixed and mastered by Alexander Backlund: Totem Skin on 21 August 2012 and These Ghosts Are Haunting Our Halls on 18 March 2013. This was followed in 2014 by a split EP with Swedish band Heart on My Sleeve.
