In what may be one of the most anticipated metal releases for 2020, “Project Regeneration” finally comes to light with it’s iminent release this week. Static-X fans have been waiting patiently to see what has been cooked up with word of it’s initial concept coming out a few years ago when talks of the 20th anniversary of the band’s iconic debt album “Wisconsin Death Trip” was coming up. The current incarnation of the band that includes original members Tony Campos, Koichi Fukuda and Ken Jay took the anniversary celebrations on tour which we were lucky enough to see both in the US and Australia and as fun and interesting that was to see, especially with the still-to-be-revealed frontman Xer0 taking on the late, great Wayne Static’s iconic vocal position, fans were really interested to see just what this new material would sound like.
After having a couple of spins through the songs on “Project Regeneration“, the final conclusion I came to was that it’s a solid piece of work and I think something Static-X fans can be proud of. The band really utilised a creative combination of old material, previous recorded vocal tracks Wayne himself had recorded before his death, along with an injection of newly recorded riffs, material and some amazing production that would really make fans curious as to what Wayne would be doing with the current technology at hand.
Hardcore fans will of course know of Wayne’s final work in Pighammer, a true evil disco album that was always the vision Wayne wanted for Static-X and surprisingly, some of that is found here on “Project Regeneration” in terms of the multi-layered prevalent use of electronics, samplings and the heavy industrialized side of the band that wasn’t necessarily always found on every song in the band’s back catalogue. I’ll admit, coming in a bit later towards Static-X’s tail end of their career not long after “Cannibal” was released was the result of only hearing the “radio” tracks, the singles that leaned more heavily towards their more streamlined nu-metal/alternative heavy rock side as opposed to their brilliant industrial metal side that bypassed my ears for far too many years. But thankfully the band put all their focus on what I consider to be the best side of Static-X, the industrial groove metal aspect.
Strangley after hearing this new recording, if anyone was wanting to get into Static-X for the first time, this would actually be a great showcase for what the band do so well. The signature sound of that metallic, disco thumping, modern metal 1-2 punchy dance beat is well placed in almost every track on here, it really is the best of what Static-X is.
The first full sample we got earlier in the year was “Hollow“, the lead track that opens the album after a completely electronic intro. The back story for the song includes initial recordings that go way back to 2005 when the band were recording “Start A War” but was never released for various reasons that Tony Campos explains, “Wayne and I never felt like the music on the original HOLLOW demo was fully realized. That is why it didn’t appear on Start A War or any STATIC-X album that followed”. It’s a great way to introduce things as it does have that very strong trademark sound so as to ease fans into the new material.
But the real game starts from here onwards as we start to fully immerse yourself in the album. “Worth Dyin For” has that “Bled For Days” structure and sound but with a more pop like quality in the chorus lines, it’s heavy but catchy and melodic. “Terminator Oscillator” has a bit of the “Cannibal” vibe with a pounding beat and a ball of energy while “All These Years“, which was also released as the second single with a video, is dark, atmospheric but with a weird creepy fun factor splashed all over it. The bass lines here, as with the rest of the production are lush, clean and smooth that ups the groove factor ten fold.
“Accelerate” is the shortest track on here and almost feels more like an instrumental interlude of sorts, it has that industrialised post-punk 90’s vibe going for it which continues into “Bring You Down” where the intro punches you straight in the face before trailing off into more groove metal.
One of the highlights of the album however has to be the chaotic “My Destruction“. It’s an absolute fun, trippy ride all the way through that has a sort of circus/amusement park feel to it all which is only elevated further more with constant cackles of laughter and cinematic soundtracks splattered through out.
“Something of My Own” comes back to that alternative Nu-Metal side of the band where melody and catchy vocal lines are more prevalent. Speaking of coming back to things, the recurring Otsego trademark found on earlier Static-X albums makes it’s comeback in “Otsego Placebo” and once again the track makes a point of standing out as it’s own little entity. Dark and atmospheric, the symphonic layers carried through out the track is a nice touch and adds to the overall darker mood of this song while still retaining a heavy beat with tons of energy and fast pacing.
The last two tracks end things fairly strong though not as strong as the first half of the album. “Follow” starts out deceivingly slow then turns into vintage Static-X that takes things back to some of the early works of the band. The vocals take more of a backseat here though as they let the sonics do most of the talking so to speak. “Dead Souls” takes things to the end as the band takes the foot off the pedal a little bit for a slightly more sombre affair, it’s well drawn out and still relatively concise as is most of the album where the tracks average around a quick 3 to 4 minutes but here it’s probably a fitting way to leave things, especially with the title alone.
Despite the fact that it may seem a little strange to hear Wayne’s voice again, the opinion of this reviewer and ultimately a fan too, is that “Project Regeneration“ is a fantastic album. It’s a shame we will never see Wayne himself perform these tracks live as I can imagine some of these songs would go over very well with the crowds. But kudos to the rest of the band for making this exactly what could of been the next true Static-X album, the essence of Static-X is very prominent on this album and no doubt regardless of how you feel on the circumstances, reasoning and any politics that would surround this release, the songs are solid as hell and long time fans will definitely at the very least, appreciate it on a musical and creative front.
8/10
Track List:
1. Regeneration
2.Hollow (Project Regeneration)
3. Worth Dyin For
4. Terminator Oscillator
5.All These Years
6. Accelerate
7. Bring You Down (Project Regeneration)
8. My Destruction
9. Something of My Own (Project Regeneration)
10. Otsego Placebo
11. Follow
12. Dead Souls
