Static-X

Static-X is an American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long held constant with band founder, frontman, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until his death in 2014.

Sound and context

The band was founded by Static and original drummer Ken Jay. They rose to fame with their 1999 debut album Wisconsin Death Trip where their heavy industrial metal sound attracted attention within the burgeoning nu metal movement of the late 1990s, with the album eventually going platinum in the United States. The band released five more albums over the course of the next decade: Machine in 2001, Shadow Zone in 2003, Start a War in 2005, Cannibal in 2007, and Cult of Static in 2009. By 2011, the band had sold over three million albums worldwide.

The band entered a hiatus while Static worked on his solo album, Pighammer, in 2011. Static briefly reformed Static-X in 2012, using only members of his solo album's touring band, before officially breaking up in June 2013. On November 1, 2014, Wayne Static died at the age of 48.

The rest of the original Static-X lineup – bassist Tony Campos, lead guitarist Koichi Fukuda and drummer Ken Jay – announced on October 23, 2018, that they were reforming the band in Static's honor, and would release Project: Regeneration Vol. 1, their first studio album in eleven years, in 2020. A follow-up album, Project: Regeneration Vol. 2, was released on January 26, 2024