In late September, Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell announced he was leaving the band, stating in part, "The past several years have been profoundly agonizing, with these members bleeding my passion with depraved deceit. As a direct consequence of their greed, these three have dragged me through the unjust, judicial system, resulting in the legal attrition that has financially crippled me...  I cannot align myself with someone whom I do not trust, nor respect."

Taking to Facebook, as reported by Nick Ruskell of Kerrang, Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares responded to a fan’s remark that the band are “Not the same without Burton,” saying, “Im [sic] glad it’s not the same he couldn’t sing live anymore it’s not a secret fans have been complains about his voice for years, go look at YouTube comments, bring on the new voice.”

In another comment, Dino added, “I just wish he would’ve taken care of his voice over the years, like Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) who screams like crazy and Corey Taylor Slipknot, Stone Sour) and Howard Jones (Killswitch Engage) who both do screams and melodic singing. Those guys prove it can be done.” 

Cazares then went on to allege that the singer had not taken care of his instrument, saying, “If I was a singer I would take care of my voice and not drink hard alcohol, do drugs or smoke. You have to learn how to adapt to your old age. A million singers do it. And million don’t and just have issues.”

The video below looks back at 30 years of Fear Factory: