Static-X

American metal outfit Static-X fuse thrash aggression with industrial textures and an electronic heartbeat. They first broke through near the close of the 1990s via their debut album, the 1998 cult favorite Wisconsin Death Trip, which quickly elevated them within heavy music circles thanks in part to frontman Wayne Static’s signature hairstyle and vocal style. Sustained activity throughout the following decade came via releases such as Machine and Shadow Zone, yet the band’s progress stopped abruptly with Static’s death in 2014. Early in the 2020s, however, the founding members regrouped around archival Static vocals and song ideas, delivering Project Regeneration, Vol. 1 in 2020 followed by its companion Vol. 2 in 2024.

The group’s origins lie in the Midwest: vocalist and guitarist Wayne Static was raised in Michigan while drummer Ken Jay grew up in Illinois. The pair converged independently in Chicago and were introduced at the record store where Jay was employed, the meeting facilitated by future Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan, who had previously played alongside Static in Deep Blue Dream. Static and Jay then relocated to California to launch a fresh project. Shortly after settling on the West Coast, Osaka-born Koichi Fukada answered their advertisement and joined as guitarist and programmer. Bassist Tony Campos, the sole native Californian in the lineup, completed the roster. Warner Brothers signed the band in February 1998, leading to the release of Wisconsin Death Trip the next year. The record achieved platinum status on the strength of singles “Push It” and “Bled for Days.” Even so, original guitarist Fukada departed briefly in 2000 and was succeeded by Tripp Eisen, formerly of Dope, for the gold-certified Machine, which remains their highest-charting album. Additional personnel shifts occurred when Jay exited following the 2003 release Shadow Zone, and misdemeanor charges prompted Eisen’s departure in 2004, after which he was convicted and served a year in prison. Static-X nevertheless continued, recruiting Fukada back in 2005 for guitar and programming duties while Nick Oshiro assumed the drum chair full-time.

A refreshed Static-X resumed recording in June 2005 with Start a War, which featured the single “I’m the One.” Their fifth album, Cannibal, arrived in 2007 and reached Billboard’s Top 40. After touring and documenting the shows on the CD/DVD Cannibal Killers Live, the band recorded its sixth studio effort, Cult of Static. Issued in March 2009, the album entered the Top 20, marking their second-strongest chart performance. A lengthy tour preceded a hiatus during which Wayne Static turned his attention to the Pighammer project alongside his wife, Tera Wray. Pighammer surfaced in 2011 as a solo album under Static’s name. The following year he reassembled Static-X, this time without any original members, using his solo touring band instead. That configuration toured until disbanding in 2013; Wayne Static died of a drug overdose in 2014 at age 48, and widow Tera Wray took her own life just over a year afterward.

The losses appeared to close the book on Static-X, yet surviving members eventually reconciled and examined unreleased recordings from earlier eras. Working again with Ulrich Wild, they isolated Wayne’s vocals from the old demos and built new material around them. The resulting Project Regeneration appeared in two installments, with Vol. 1 emerging in summer 2020. To promote the album the band toured behind a masked vocalist named Xer0. Lead single “Hollow” reached the Top 15 on the U.S. Dance/Electronic chart. After a successful run of shows that extended through an extended pairing with Sevendust into 2024, they began work on Vol. 2 in January, which included the single “Z0mbie” along with a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Terrible Lie.”