The name of the band comes from the Cathars' practice of ritualistic fasting to speed death. Pennick and Walton met in early 1993. Walton was "once chased out of France" after showing videos of hardcore violence and pornography at an festival. He has referred to himself as a misanthrope. Endura mixes elements of ambient music with tribal rhythms, chants, moans, and sounds effects such as rattling chains and echoes. Their style has been described as "combining synthesizers reminiscent of Tangerine Dream with (un)healthy doses of Aleister Crowley, H.P. Lovecraft, and psychedelic drugs", "absolutely haunting and dark", or simply "Neoclassical".