Static-X is an industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California now consisting of frontman Edsel Dope, bassist Tony Campos, lead guitarist Koichi Fukuda & drummer Ken Jay. Formed by their original frontman Wayne Static, their 1999 debut Wisconsin Death Trip would become a breakthrough for them in the nu metal era & went on to release 5 more albums until Wayne tragically passed away in the fall of 2014. They reformed in Wayne’s memory in 2020 on their last LP Project: Regeneration mixing old sounds with new along with their new frontman Edsel Dope recording brand new vocals mixed with posthumous Wayne vocals that I found myself liking as much as their debut. So with the 25-year anniversary that & the 10-year anniversary of Wayne’s passing, they’re commemorating it with a sequel to their previous album.
“Stay Alive” is this great industrial metal opener with Wayne & Edsel sharing the mic talking about seeing red & needing this person in their lives whereas “Z0mbie” continues to incorporate the abrasive & heavy sound from industrial music into a heavier context by using elements from post-industrial like synthesizers & drum machines so Edsel describing a psychotic bitch. Wayne & Edsel link back up on “Jic Boi” admitting they’re strung out experimenting with cyber metal leading “Black Star” finds Wayne bringing the band back to their signature industrial metal sound solely talking about losing his mind over the course of what time he had left.
Moving on from there, “Kamikaze” screamed by Edsel kinda gives me a nu metal vibe a bit looking to go Hiroshima just before “No Hope” dabbling with alternative metal so Wayne can talk about needing something to die for. “Take Control” sees Tony Campos & Edsel on vocals together continues to fuse industrial & metal music in their stylistic fashion suffering from hallucinations, but then “Tone” delves further into industrial metal with Wayne talking about all that ever knew was fear along with joy & destruction.
“Run for Your Life” switches it up by going cyber metal again & Edsel confessing to being the enemy that’s dead inside while both Wayne & Tony join him for “Dark Place” so the 3 can sing about individuals searching for something to take away from tomorrow’s sorrow returning it to their industrial metal wheelhouse. “Disco Otsego” with Edsel on vocals is a cyber metal dedication to the titular city of this reviewer’s home state of Michigan while “From Heaven” hauntingly takes a darker tone & Wayne morbidly likening his life to a disease.
The penultimate track “Terrible Lie” begins the encore with this boring industrial/nu metal cover of the 9 Inch Иails song of the same name with some cyber metal undertones to it that both Edsel & Wayne sing together prior to the closer “Groove Yoda Data 14” ending Project: Regeneration 2 by putting a bigger emphasis on cyber metal & both of them talking about no pain killing them & that it’s cold inside.
Before I begin my concluding thoughts: It made me happy that Twiztid opened for these guys on the Rise of the Machine Tour as someone who considers ”Push It” to be such a classic single & as a Detroit juggalo who’s been following the Majik Ninja Entertainment founders since their Psychopathic Records days. As for the music itself, this sequel expands on everything that made the predecessor great. They continue to balance the sounds they came up on & dabble with new ones along the way with Wayne & Edsel continuing to show chemistry 1 last time.
Score: 3.5/5
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