In the day and age of competing record labels sporting the latest in “heavy,” with a vast array of deathcoresque acts, and now seemingly free applications such as Mixcraft, Audacity, and FL Studio made available by pirating / media sharing modes such as Rapidshare, Megaupload, music blogs, and torrents, it can be easy for a band to get lost in an imploding music culture. DreamWorks Records’ Powerman 5000 found themselves suddenly uninterested in on an indie label, the perfect example of a band lost among the static. It is amongst these ever lustful eyes of the business world that Wayne Static and crew release their sixth studio record “Cult of Static.”
The title carries an intrinsic fan tone, which is what the album seeks to accomplish, namely, please fans. Immediately the tone for a heavy a record is established. Opening is the pummeling industrial / thrash “Lunatic” featuring Dave Mustaine of Megadeath, and “Z28” and “Terminal” continue to set the mood with harsh guitars and Wayne’s signature dry screams, the latter a stronger track then the former. By the time listeners arrive at “Hypure” it’s obvious that Static is looking to deliver an album without the melodic nu-metal sounds of older songs like “The Only.” As of this point, there isn’t a single lyric sung, and the rest of the album will follow suit.
“Tera-fied” has a semi-odd intro, transitioning to controlled chaos, and makes for a definite highlight. The lyrics “Terminate. Tera-fied. Smash it up. Draw the line. Fuck it up. Rev it up. Modulate it penetrate it. You make it motherfucking hard.” are delivered with pure Static aggression, which although give the impression of anger on first listen, make for fun upon repeated plays. The slightly odd choice for single / music video is “Stringwray”, which although contributing to the album’s solidarity, feels more a filler than a pillar. Track titles such as: “Isolatore,” “Stingwray,” “Hypure,” and “Tera-fied” are plays on words, and can almost always be heard screamed somewhere amongst Wayne’s vocals.
While not every song is extremely memorable, and the lack of melodic hooks will be disappointing to some, fans are sure to embrace the rather hard hitting ones incorporated throughout, and as such “Cult of Static” accomplishes its goal. “Cult of Static” is typical run of the mill make your mom mad metal music. Unfortunately, by not pulling a Slipknot or Disturbed, little is stopping Static-X from joining the ranks of their “come” and “gone” nu-metal brethren.
3.5 out of 5
Street Date: March 17th, 2009
Track Listing:
1.) Lunatic
2.) Z28
3.) Terminal
4.) Hypure
5.) Tera-Fied
6.) Stringwray
7.) You Am I
8.) Isolaytore
9.) Nocturnally
10.) Skinned
11.) Grind 2 Halt
