Static-X
MACHINE
(WARNER BROS.)

On Static-X’s hit debut, Wisconsin Death Trip (Warner Bros.), big-haired frontman Wayne Static sounded a lot like the long-lost little brother in the Rob Zombie/Powerman 5000 industrial-metal family. He hasn’t changed his tune much on the band’s monochromatic follow-up, which was recorded before they replaced departed guitarist Koichi Fukuda with former Dope man Tripp Eisen. Since Fukuda was also the group’s electronics guru, the new disc has less of a synthetic feel than the first one. The industrial beats on the opening " Get to the Gone " feel redundant next to Static’s hacksaw riffing, not that they subtract anything from the song’s near-death rage. Static’s scary-guy howl is even funnier than Zombie’s on the single " This Is Not, " and much more fun than the play-goth penchant for melodrama he displays elsewhere. The band like their rhythms a little heavier than most new-metallers, and their speed chops are far beyond those of the first wave of post-NIN industrial pretenders. But the hooks are few and far between on this disc, and too often their belligerence doesn’t go anywhere. The hair makes the band, of course — but a couple of more interesting songs wouldn’t hurt either.

Issue Date: May 17 - 23, 2001