Static-X’s long-awaited second Project Regeneration album, Project Regeneration Volume 2 will finally see the light of day later this month. Set for release Jan. 26 through Otsego Entertainment Group, the 14-song record will come more than three years after the release of its predecessor, Project Regeneration Volume 1. The forthcoming album is another presentation from the veteran industrial metal outfit that the band’s established audiences and metal purists alike will find engaging and entertaining. That is due in no small part to its featured musical arrangements, which will be discussed shortly. The lyrical themes that accompany the album’s musical content makes for its own interest and will be addressed a little later. The record’s production puts the finishing touch to its presentation, rounding out its most important elements. Each item noted here is key in its own way to the whole of the album. All things considered they make Project Regeneration Volume 2 the first of this year’s most notable hard rock and metal albums.
Project Regeneration Volume 2, the latest studio recording from Static-X, is a presentation that the band’s established audiences will find was worth the nearly four-year wait. The same cane be said of metal purists in general who take in the band’s now eighth studio recording. The album’s appeal comes in part through its featured musical arrangements. Throughout the course of the 48-minute record, the arrangements present all of the familiar industrial metal leanings for which Static-X has come to be known. At times those arrangements feature archived vocals from the band’s late front man Wayne Static. At others, the arrangements feature vocals from current front man Xer0 (whose real identity everyone knows by now). At others both vocalists’ vocal talents are on display together, making for all the more interest. Along with all of the familiar industrial leanings of the band’s own works, the arrangements here also exhibit just as much similarity in style to works from the likes of Fear Factory and Nine Inch Nails. As a matter of fact, the band even offers its own take on NIN’s hit song, ‘Terrible Lie’ as part of the record’s body. For all of that similarity in sound and style, the arrangements still manage easily, to maintain their own identity. That balance makes each arrangement engaging and entertaining in its own way, even in the likes of the more melodic offering, ‘Dark Place.’ Keeping all of this in mind, the musical content featured in Static-X’s new album gives audiences reason enough to take in the album.
Building on the appeal ensured through the musical arrangements is the lyrical content that accompanies that material. While some of the lyrical content featured in this record definitely leaves itself up to interpretation without explanation – E.g. that of ‘Disco Otsego,’ ‘Kamikaze’ and ‘Stay Alive’ – the majority of the lyrical content exhibited here is relatively easy to interpret. For the most part, the themes that are seemingly presented here are those of relationships and mental health. One of the most notable of those instances comes early in the record’s run in the form of ‘Jic-Boi.’ The title is an abbreviation for “Just In Case.” The song in question finds Xer0 and the late Wayne Static singing apparently about a woman who is trying to string along a man. The man tells the woman he does not want to be her “just in case boy.” Considering all of the songs out there that are sung from the female vantage point about women being “just in case girls,” this change of direction is a welcome difference. It reminds audiences that yes, there are women out there who are just as much the player as men out there. The issue is that due to societal norms, etc. those cases are acknowledged far less than the other case.
‘No Hope,’ which comes a little later in the album’s run, is another example of the noted themes. In the case of this song, the mental health aspect joins with a seemingly existential topic. This is inferred as Static sings, “No hope for survival/Give me something to die for/You want/You got/You make/Destruction/You want/You got/You make/Misery/Prepare/Resist/Your blame/Destruction/Prepare/Resist/Your blame/Misery/No hope for survival/Give me something to die for.” That is the entirety of the song, as Static reprises the whole therein. This comes across as someone who is fed up with everything going on in the world and is feeling very nihilistic as a result. So again, this theme comes across as an intriguing hybrid mental health and social statement theme. It is another example of the role of the album’s lyrical content.
One more example of the importance of this record’s lyrical themes comes late in its body in the form of ‘From Heaven.’ This song’s theme comes across (at least to this critic) as being a unique love song of sorts. That inference comes as who is unhappy with his life but show seems to find some purpose through a love interest. This as Static sings in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “My life’s a disease/That could always change/With comparative ease/Just given the chance/As prospects diminish/As nightmares swell/Some pray for heaven/While we live in hell/My life’s a disease/Don’t you get/You’re from heaven/Don’t waste it.” This is someone who seemingly is saying to that other person, “you are that good person, that light. Don’t forget it.” The seeming message continues in the song’s second verse, “My life is the earth/Twitch, muscle and spade/Waiting for the worth/Digging for just one chance/As prospects diminish/As nightmares well/Some pray for heaven/While we live in hell/My life’s a disease/Don’t you get you’re from heaven.” This comes across as being that person hoping, looking for something positive among all of the negative, and that one person is that one positive. It is an intriguing way to deliver such a familiar topic. To that end, this seeming theme proves even further, the importance of the album’s lyrical themes. When this seeming theme and the others examined here are considered along with the rest of the album’s themes (even those that are fully left to interpretation), the whole makes clear just how important the lyrical content is to this record. When the lyrical and musical content exhibited throughout the album is considered collectively, the whole builds a solid foundation for the album.
Resting on the foundation formed through the album’s overall content is the production of that content. The production expertly balances the fire and intensity of the songs’ musical arrangements with the vocals from one song to the next. This is important because of the heaviness in each song. It would have been so easy for the production to get muddied but obviously so much time and effort went into balancing each instrumentation and vocal performance that the result is 14 songs that fully immerse listeners in the record through their positive aesthetic. Keeping this In mind along with the impact of the album’s primary and secondary content, the whole herein makes Project Regeneration Volume Two another work that Static-X’s established audiences and metal purists alike will find worth hearing.
Project Regeneration Volume Two, the latest collection of content from Static-X, is a strong new addition to this year’s field of new hard rock and metal albums. Its appeal comes in part through its musical arrangements. The arrangements are of note because of the familiarity that they generate. From one song to the next, the band’s familiar industrial metal leanings are there. At the same time, the equally familiar influence of bands, such as Fear Factory and Nine Inch Nails are there, as is even a slightly more melodic influence in at least one song from the likes of Spineshank. Even with all of this in mind, the arrangements still boast their own identities that are sure to engage and entertain audiences. The lyrical themes that accompany the noted arrangements are of their own interest. That is because they are just as familiar yet delivered in their own unique fashion. The record’s production puts the finishing touch to its presentation. It ensures a positive aesthetic that is just as sure to appeal to listeners as the record’s content. Each item examined here is important in its own way to the whole of the album. All things considered they make the album the first great entry in the year’s field of new hard rock and metal albums.
Project Regeneration Volume Two is scheduled for release Jan. 26 through Otsego Entertainment Group. More information on the album is available along with all of Static-X’s latest news at:
Website: http://www.static-x.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/staticx
Twitter: http://twitter.com/OfficialStaticX
