Static-X – “Project Regeneration Vol.2”
26th February 2024Time is linear…despite being a man-made construct. In terms of the 24-hour day; dividing days into hours, minutes, and seconds…dividing years into months and weeks, and calendars in general… the concept of time is something we take for granted too often quite frankly; it marches on and waits for no one.
Let’s take this year for example; 2024. It’s a special year for this reviewer, as it marks a decade of rambling about music for those bothered enough to read. It’s also a very sad anniversary, marking ten years since the sudden death of Wayne Static. As the frontman for the industrial/nu-metal powerhouse STATIC-X, they quickly found fame and popularity at the turn of the Millennium, carving out a solid career for themselves with platinum albums, and multiple plays on Kerrang! and Scuzz, alternative radio, etc. Sadly, due to an accidental overdose, Wayne passed away in 2014, and the continuation of the band was truly up for debate. Can a band really continue following the death of their focal point?
Back in 2020, the band re-emerged unexpectedly with the album “Project Regeneration Vol.1”. (Check out that review here) Following the death of Wayne, it was discovered that there was A LOT of material that had been written, recorded, and put aside as demo’s, by Wayne, that hadn’t seen the light of day. These tracks were recovered and remastered, put through the studio and the album was released posthumously, with additional vocals being performed by Edsel Dope (Allegedly), and it reignited interest in the industrial icons, backed by some hugely successful world touring. The thing is, there was so much material, that there was enough for the band to release “Project Regeneration Vol.2” in 2024, commemorating ten years of Wayne’s passing. Equally prolific and poignant, let’s press play and Otsego Go…
The album opens with “Stay Alive” which on face value is so sentimental. Keeping not just the band’s name and legacy alive, but also Wayne’s memory and it’s a fantastic starting point, but lyrically it becomes apparent that it heavily touches on addiction and substance abuse, or mismanagement, and despite the solidly aggressive tones of the track, it’s riddled with a sense of sadness. “And I can make it magical, this a taste subliminal, falling down the slippery slope, take it slow I feel it go”. This is a man obviously battling addiction and the manner in which this track is delivered reeks of frustration and self-depreciation. It’s got crunching riffs and a regimental feel, with minimal melody, and it’s a hard-hitting message. This is emotional stuff.
We follow this up with the single “Z0mbie” and we have yet more strong references to substances. “Sobriety is slipping away, thread the needle, thread the needle, my sanity is slipping away, thread the needle spread the evil”. There are moments he refers to the drugs as a mistress that’s psychotic, and that he’ll never be the same again, and it’s painful to hear what he was working on, knowing the demons he was battling. It’s a catchy piece of aggressive industrialized nu-metal with spoken word snippets and boisterous production.
Album highlights include “Black Star”, which is a slower tempo here, but is another deep track conceptually. It’s quite the emotive piece with an anthemic chorus full of passion, promise, and hope; it’s a recognition in ways of what Wayne was dealing with and him looking to get through it, trying to be positive, using this darkness for his art, turning reflection into creation. It’s a wonderfully blended balance of Gothic melancholy and metal angst, with electronic layering, and it works so well. “Kamikaze” then takes things up a notch or two with a pulverizing slab of lightly industrialized metalcore. With its upbeat presentation, it’s got almost dance-along qualities that showcase just how fun heavy music can be, and this is sure to incite pits at live shows for sure.
NINE INCH NAILS cover “Terrible Lie” showcases their 90’s industrial roots, and they ramp up the track compared to the original, adding a heaviness and vocal brutality to the track, and it’s another EDM-laced piece of music that would do well at alternative club night dance floors. There are some run-of-the-mill tracks here that come across as filler, however… “Tone” houses this frankly irritating droning intro that’s on par with early internet dial-up connections sonically, before we get a middle-of-the-road metal offering with bullet-pointed vocals and a plodding delivery. “Disco Otsego” then is hardly the BEE GEES or BONEY M., it does have certain catchy elements instrumentally but it’s another repetitive number, while “From Heaven” sounds like something that could have come from the cutting room floor when KORN recorded “Untouchables”, but it’s on the cutting room floor for a reason. Though it could easily be a B-Side for “Thoughtless” I guess, remaining positive? Ultimately the band stated that it was far easier to compile Part 1 as they used the better-quality recordings and demos for the first album, and subsequently, this album took longer to edit, produce, and remaster. With that being said, they’ve still managed to deliver a decent collection of industrialised metal and more importantly, done Wayne Static the best justice they could have with the resources they had.
A striking frontman, he was instantly recognizable in image, but also in the way he wrote and performed, and the latter point is well represented and respected in these recordings. Is it the same without him? No, of course, it never will be, but passion projects like this keep his memory alive, and it allows his art to live on, even if the band has become a tribute of sorts without him. Don’t take that as detrimental, Project Regeneration Vol.2? Volume up I say…the louder the better.
Album Score: 7/10
Track Listing:
- “Stay Alive”
- “Z0mbie”
- “JIC Boi”
- “Black Star”
- “Kamikaze”
- “No Hope”
- “Take Control”
- “Tone”
- “Run For Your Life”
- “Dark Place”
- “Disco Otsego”
- “From Heaven”
- “Terrible Lie”
- “Grover Yoda Data 14”
Record Label: Otsego Entertainment Group
Release Date: January 26th (Out Now)
For all things Static X click HERE and to purchase the album, click HERE
