Conversation so far:
What is Fear Factory's soul of a new machine?
Fear Factory debut album Soul of a New Machine (1992), which was recorded with producer Colin Richardson, gave the band greater exposure in the music scene.
Why did Fear Factory's Soul of a New Machine give the band greater exposure in the music scene?
Fear Factory's debut album was characterized by an industrial death metal sound that combined Bell's melodic and harsh vocals, Herrera's machine-like drums, the death metal riffs of Dino Cazares.
Were Fear Factory trying to get away from death metal?
Soul of a New Machine is considered by some as Fear Factory's final death metal album because with each subsequent album, their style shifted away from the death metal subgenre.

Question: What direction were they going?
Self-contained rewrite: What direction were Fear Factory going after death metal genre music?