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was one of the first bands to fuse the loud, crushing intensity of death metal with the cold harshness of industrial electronics and samples, producing a more varied sonic palette with which to express their bleak, pessimistic view of modern, technology-driven society. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1990 by vocalist
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(formerly of Hate Face), percussionist
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, and guitarist and ex-Douche Lord
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. Following their contribution of two tracks to the L.A. Death Metal compilation,
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signed to Roadrunner Records and released their debut album,
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, in 1992, which featured new bass player
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, added to allow
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to play guitar on tour. The following year's
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EP showed
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's willingness to experiment with their music and broaden its scope by placing tracks from their debut in the hands of remixers Rhys Fulber and Bill Leeb of Front Line Assembly; the EP also marked the debut of keyboardist
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, who along with Fulber joined the band as a touring keyboardist.
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was fired in 1994 and replaced by
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. In 1995,
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released its second full-length album of new material,
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; it was followed two years later by another remix project,
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, which this time featured contributions from a number of different remixers, including many techno-oriented artists, as well as more input from
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themselves.
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replaced
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in 1996. The members of the band have performed in a number of side projects, the most notable of which is
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and
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Brujeria; others include G/Z/R (
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) and Nailbomb (
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).
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reconvened in 1998 for
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, a record that found the band's well-established style fitting seamlessly into the growing alternative metal boom. As such, it became the band's biggest hit yet, hitting the Top 100 on the album charts.
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profile was further boosted by appearances on several film soundtracks and on the 1999 Ozzfest tour. Their next album, 2001's
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, entered the charts in the Top 40, but by the next year vocalist
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decided to leave the band in March. The band had little desire to move on without him, and agreed to record one more song with the vocalist as well as release their debut demo,
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, which had never been widely available before.