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Static-X - Project Regeneration Volume 1
by Kevin Wierzbicki
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When Static-X vocalist Wayne Static passed away in 2014 he left lots of unfinished songs and vocal tracks behind. Now this material has been finished by the remaining band members and Otsego Entertainment Group is releasing all of it over the course of this release and the upcoming Project Regeneration Volume 2. So what you have here are vocals from Wayne Static and current singer XerO, with the band members being Tony Campos, Ken Jay and Koichi Fukuda, which amounts to the classic lineup Static-X had for their platinum-selling debut, Wisconsin Death Trip. The effort begins with "Regeneration;" with the spoken intro "The unexpected thing tragedy gives us is the opportunity to rebuild," the brief, almost instrumental cut describes this project in a nutshell. Fans will hear familiar Static-X sounds throughout as the band rocks hard through "Hollow (Project Regeneration)," throbs into the future with the techno-metal of "Terminator Oscillator" and woozily hits the shop floor for the manic industrial beat of "Accelerate." All of the Static-X hallmarks find their way into "My Destruction," a cut filled with maniacal vocals, a rat-a-tat beat to marshal the masses and guitar riffs that poke and prod at anything in their way. Somewhat ironically the 12-song set ends with "Dead Souls," a rare moment where the band's sound is tempered a bit with more of an emphasis on melody than usual. In a way it is good that it took six years for these recordings to make their debut; there has been enough time for fans to mourn Static so now they can celebrate and thoroughly enjoy his last works.
