Static-X - Cannibal Review
Posted by Brandon Ratliff on 04.04.2007
Rock out like it's 1999...
Static-X - Cannibal
Release Date: April 3, 2007
Label: Warner Brothers Records
Produced By: Static-X
First Single: Destroyer
Recommended Downloads: Destroyer, Chroma-Matic, Cuts You Up
Static-X is:
Vocals/Guitar/Programming: Wayne Static
Guitar/Programming: Koichi Fukuda
Bass: Tony Campos
Drums: Nick Oshiro
Guest Musicians: John 5 (guitar)
Tracklisting
1. Cannibal
2. No Submission
3. Behemoth
4. Chemical Logic
5. Destroyer
6. Forty Ways
7. Chroma-Matic
8. Cuts You Up
9. Reptile
10. Electric Pulse
11. Goat
12. Team Hate
If there’s one thing I’m honestly tired of hearing, it is record label public relations people constantly telling me “OMGZ!!! THIS IS STATIC-X’S FIFTH ALBUM ON WBR!!! OMGZ!!!”
Of course, I mean no offense to the wonderful, wonderful people at Warner Bros or Speak Easy PR, but man, I got it already.
All joking aside though, it is a very rare feat for any band these days, much less a metal band, to stick around on the same major label over the course of five albums. There’s no doubt that Static-X can still sell records, but getting lumped in the dreaded and now defunct nu-metal genre never helped them. Add that to the fact that between Start A War and Cannibal is the first time that they’ve had the same band lineup over the course of two subsequent records, and the fact that they’ve had a fairly major change in their overall sound with every passing record, you’d think that they would have been long gone by now. But been-there-from-the-beginning members Wayne Static and Tony Campos have stuck through it all, going through things like losing original guitarist Koichi Fukuda only to have him return later, the whole rape thing with Tripp Eisen, Ken Jay’s departure, and having former Seether drummer Nick Oshiro take his place (though it wasn’t until Start A War that he was an official member as he simply toured with them before), and again, you’d think the band would have called it quits long ago. But they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right? So does this show in the new Static-X record Cannibal?
Click the picture to buy the album.
Upon hearing the opening notes of the blazing title track, you’ll feel like you’re in 1999 all over again with Wisconsin Death Trip. So, I’m just going to come right out and say it: Static-X could have very easily gotten away with naming this album Wisconsin Death Trip II: Look! We really are a metal band!. Not to say that in a negative light, because after all the changes the band has been through and eight years later, to be able to create that kind of nostalgia with new music is tough. It’s pretty clear that, generally speaking, as metal musicians get older they tend to tone their game down a bit (Slayer be damned), and it seemed that this may have been the case when 2003’s Shadow Zone came out. Well, after a year and a half and a lot of crap, fans got a new breath of life from the band with 2005’s Start A War. This showed the band maintaining their accessible sound shown on the former, while coming back with the fine edge that their earlier material showed. That trend is continued here on Cannibal, though this time around most of the accessibility is thrown to the wind.
The album’s biggest accomplishment is ironically also the most negative aspect of it. This album will definitely appeal to the fans of the band’s earlier material (namely Wisconsin Death Trip, but because of that, Cannibal often times at best feels too much like an attempt to recreate former magic, and at worst just a plain set of b-sides from the aforementioned album. Because of this, the album really fails to leave a lasting impression on the listener, save for maybe about two songs. Being this album’s equivalent of “Love Dump,” “Destroyer” was an odd choice for the first single, but it definitely is memorable. Personally I would have picked the title track or the thrashy “Chemical Logic” as first single, and released “Destroyer” second. But I guess that’s why I’m the critic and not the label exec eh?
Cannibal is by no means a bad album, and even shows some bright spots in the band’s music (Fukuda’s solos are definitely a welcome addition), but it is for the most part just way too forgettable. The best description I think I can give is that it sounds like the band tried to do Wisconsin Death Trip again with some of the elements of Machine thrown in for good measure. It’s an admirable effort, but ultimately falls short of being that seminal album Static-X seem to have been aiming for. In fact, while fans seem to all have their respective favorite albums by the band (personally, I’ve always liked Machine the best), the band doesn’t seem to have one in particular that really stands out above the rest. I think Static-X wanted really badly to create that here, but instead just ended up with a decent, if undistinguished effort that’ll leave you wondering what more it could have been. Maybe next time, guys.
The 411: Cannibal is a solid album, even if it basically sounds like the band wanted to make another Wisconsin Death Trip. The album tends to sound really fresh and solid at first listen, but after a few spins you’ll be hard pressed to really remember most of the material here. It’s a good attempt at self-producing an album this far into their careers, but it’s definitely not what they were aiming for. You’ll likely find this one in your CD players for a few weeks, eventually to be replaced by something new without second thought. I will give this a recommendation to fans of the band’s older material, but don’t expect it to feel like much more than a trip down memory lane.
