Cazares met singer Burton C. Bell in 1989 and started a group under the name Ulceration, which was renamed to their current name Fear Factory in the following year with Raymond Herrera on drums. The band's first album, "Soul of a New Machine", was dedicated to Cazares' mother, Natividad, and older brother, Joey. Before starting Fear Factory, Cazares was in the grindcore band Excruciating Terror, which he quit after one month. He co-founded the Mexican death/grind side-project Brujeria, formed in 1989 with members of Faith No More, Fear Factory, among other well-known bands.