Dino Cazares

Dino Cazares' fingers can fly across a fretboard with jaw-dropping speed. The 40-year-old, Mexican-American guitarist is not just another metalhead with "impressive technique," he's a central figure in the recent history of one the most loved and hated musical genres – other than reggaeton.

Born in the Mexican border town of Mexicali in 1966, Cazares migrated with his family to El Centro, California as a young teen. At 14, he picked up his father's old acoustic six-string and proceeded to teach himself to play. But he wasn't just set on mastering "Stairway." In a nod to kung fu movies, Cazares placed ankle weights on his arms and covered his fingers with duct tape while relentlessly practicing scales and complex solos. In a few years, he had forged a distinctive style, described by some as a meld of Angus Young's (AC/DC) dexterity and James Hetfield's (Metallica) knack for melody along with the percussive playing of The Edge (U2).

Still one year away from turning 18, Cazares jumped on a Greyhound bus and headed to Los Angeles, intent on unleashing his crunching riffs on unsuspecting metalheads. Fame – and cash – proved to be elusive in the City of Angels, and Cazares soon ended up homeless and unemployed. Disheartened but not discouraged, he cut his long hair and found a regular gig at a record store.

History came knocking in 1989, when Cazares met drummer Raymond Hererra and formed the influential alternative metal act Fear Factory – which released six well-regarded albums during his 10-year tenure with the band. During this flurry of creativity, Cazares also fronted Brujeria, the infamous and controversial death metal band best known for its twisted, Spanish-language lyrics about Satanism, immigration, drug trafficking and politics. Brujeria's debut, Matando Güeros (Killing Whiteys), was banned in many record stores not just for its content but for its cover art which featured a decapitated human head.

Having departed Fear Factory due to personnel conflicts, Cazares also left Brujeria after 2000's Brujerizmo, resurfacing in 2002 with Asesino, the band he calls "the new Brujeria." Asesino's debut, Corridos de Muerte (Death Tales), has earned them a strong cult following and catapulted the knowingly perverse trio to the forefront of the Grindcore movement.