[4] Their first lineup was completed with the addition of bassist Dave Gibney and vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face[4]), who was allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares, who overheard him singing "New Year's Day" by U2.

Fear Factory's earliest demo recordings are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band in the grindcore-driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness, and vocal stylings of the latter.

The production combined Bell's harsh and melodic vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the integrated industrial samples and textures and the sharp, down-tuned, rhythmic, death metal riffs of Dino Cazares.

The album's production is more refined and the integration of atmospheric keyboard parts and industrial textures upon Cazares' and Herrera's precise musicianship made the songs sound clinical, cold and machine-like and gave the band's music a futuristic feel.

Fear Factory spent the next few years touring with such bands Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, and opened for Ozzy Osbourne in North America and Europe during late 1995.

In May 1997, the band released a new album composed of Demanufacture remixes by artists such as Rhys Fulber, DJ Dano or Junkie XL called Remanufacture - Cloning Technology.

Fear Factory's third studio album, Obsolete (July 1998), was reportedly completed earlier than planned by canceling an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air Festival.

While Fear Factory had explored the theme of "Man versus Machine" in their earlier work, Obsolete was their first concept album that dealt specifically with a literal interpretation of this subject.

A remix of "Invisible Wounds" was included on the Resident Evil film soundtrack, and an instrumental digipak bonus track called "Full Metal Contact" was originally written for the video game, Demolition Racer.

During his time away from Fear Factory, Bell with John Bechdel started a side project called Ascension of the Watchers, which released its first EP, Iconoclast, independently via their online store in 2005.

When asked about the breakup in May 2002, Cazares made claims and allegations against Bell and the other members, stating that Fear Factory could continue without Christian Olde Wolbers and that he and Raymond Herrera were primarily motivated by money.

In the same interview, Herrera also revealed that Cazares had attempted to control the direction of the band by manipulating their business management and record company, and had openly lied to the other members about his actions.

Fear Factory made its live return as the mystery band at the Australian Big Day Out festival in January 2004, followed by its first American shows since re-forming on the spring Jägermeister tour with Slipknot and Chimaira.

With Archetype, Fear Factory returned to an alternative, industrial, metal sound; the album is generally considered to be a strong 'return-to-form' record, if not a particularly innovative effort, with most of the trademark elements of the band firmly in place.

The new Fear Factory has largely abandoned the direct "Man versus Machine" theme prevalent on earlier releases in favor of subjects such as religion, war, and corporatism.

Fear Factory announced plans to record and release its next full-length album over a very short period of time with mainstream rock producer Toby Wright, who had worked with Korn and Alice in Chains.

[30] On April 8, 2009, Bell and Cazares announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Byron Stroud on bass and drummer Gene Hoglan of Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, and Dethklok.

During an interview on June 23, 2009, Cazares said he could never have a working relationship with Raymond and Wolbers again, saying they were too money-driven and criticized the music they recorded on Archetype for being too similar to the band's earlier output.

[63] They also announced that they would play the entire Demanufacture album in Europe between November and December 2015, a tour which again included Once Human with the addition of Irish band Dead Label as openers.

"[65] In a December 2016 interview with The Ex-Man, despite an ongoing "huge legal battle" with Bell and Cazares, former bassist-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers stated that he was "trying to reach out and try to get this reunion thing happening."

"[70] In an interview with SiriusXM's Jose Mangin at November 2018's inaugural Headbangers Con in Portland, Oregon, Bell revealed Monolith as the title of Fear Factory's tenth studio album and its tentative artwork via his smartphone.

[72] Shortly thereafter, Cazares expressed uncertainty towards the band's future, indicating that a lawsuit filed by former members Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers had prevented him and Bell from using the Fear Factory name.

[78] In an interview with Robb Flynn on September 28, 2020, which took place within hours after Bell announced his departure from Fear Factory, Cazares claimed that he was not aware of the split until he "found out [about it] via social media."

Cazares reiterated that Bell's vocals would appear on the new album, which was being mixed by Andy Sneap for a March 2021 release, and hoped the pair would continue to work together in order to support it.

"[94] This version featured re-recorded drum tracks performed by the band's previous drummer, Mike Heller, as well as remixes of two songs from the album: "Recharger" and "Difference Engine".

[95] In November 2024, Dino Cazares in an interview explained in further detail why a reunion of himself and Burton C. Bell, Christian Olde Wolbers, and Raymond Herrera, will not be possible in the foreseeable future and how he came to own one hundred percent of the Fear Factory name intellectual property copyrights trademarks.

As a specific example, their debut album, Soul of a New Machine, picked up its name directly from a line in a movie critic review of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day film (discussing the T-1000 villain).

Cazares has also cited recurring influences on Fear Factory coming from conventional popular music, outside of the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, for instance looking to singer-songwriter Paul McCartney's sounds in both The Beatles and Wings.

Fear Factory is noteworthy among contemporaries for its lyrical focus on science fiction, with much of the band's music telling a single story spanning several concept albums.

[118] In an interview on That Metal Show, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward said Fear Factory is one of the bands he wishes he could play with, and picked Mechanize as one of his favourite albums.