What The Hell Happened To... 03.09.09: Static-X - Shadow Zone

Posted by Dan Marsicano on 03.09.2009

This week, Dan Marsicano takes a jump into the Shadow Zone and comes out alive to tell the tale of Static-X's unappreciated third album.

The Introduction

Welcome to the 67th edition of What The Hell Happened To…(yes, I'm still keeping count). I'm your host, the guy who is spending his spring break behind a computer screen attempting to review ten CD's in a week, Dan Marsicano.

We have an awesome tournament going on at 411 Music, similar to college basketball's March Madness; one rock and one metal-related. Bands are competing against each other, and we need your vote! So click here for the Rock opening round and click here for the Metal opening round. Make your voices heard…and for the love of God, don't let Disturbed advance past the second round!

It's time for my weekly brag-a-thon, where I list off all the web sites I write for. I recently got a gig with the Heavy Metal section of About.com and am also currently still writing at Metal Underground (under the alias heavytothebone2) and SMN News. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten about the loyal readers at 411. The column will still be around, but there will be fewer reviews than normal. Look for a review of Chris Cornell (which could cause a bit of controversy around these parts) and Papa Roach (which I am strangely excited about).

This week, I'm taking a look at industrial metal band Static-X and their third album, 2003's Shadow Zone. This would be the first album with guitarist, and future New Jersey jailbait extraordinaire, Tripp Eisen playing and writing material for Static-X. Unlike their first two albums, Shadow Zone had the band exploring new musical territories, which led to mixed reactions from both fans and critics alike. Static-X would move away from this direction on future albums, but for a short period, Static-X introduced the concept of melody and subtly to their blunt sonic attack.





The Band

Wayne Static- Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard, Programming
Tripp Eisen- Guitar
Tony Campos- Bass, Backing Vocals
Josh Freese- Drums


The Track Listing

1. Destroy All-2:18
2. Control It-3:05
3. New Pain-2:58
4. Shadow Zone-3:05
5. Dead World-2:48
6. Monster-2:14
7. The Only-2:51
8. Kill Your Idols-4:01
9. All In Wait-4:02
10. Otsegolectric-2:39
11. So-3:41
12. Transmission-1:39
13. Invincible-4:05


The History

Static-X formed in the early 90's after the dissolution of Static's and original drummer Ken Jay's band Deep Blue Dream. The band found Campos and original guitarist Koichi Fukuda to round out the rest of the band, and Static-X was created. The band signed with Warner Bros. in 1998 and completed their debut album, Wisconsin Death Trip.



"I'm With Stupid" Live Graspop 2007


The album would eventually go platinum behind the success of single "Push It" and "I'm With Stupid." Static-X would land a spot on Ozzfest during the touring cycle. 2001's Machine would continue in the same direction as their debut album, with one major difference; the loss of Fukuda during the recording. Static would play all the guitar parts for Machine, which made it to #11 on the Billboard charts and had three relatively-successful singles. While not reaching the sales of Wisconsin Death Trip, Machine showed the band still had momentum behind them.

Static-X would enlist Tripp Eisen as the second guitarist, and went into the studio to work on their third album, Shadow Zone, one that would alienate a select group of fans and cause a backlash from long-time fans…


The Analysis

Shadow Zone is an album of ideas; ideas that push the boundaries of Static-X's sound to the breaking point and ideas that seem like re-hashes of the glory days of "evil disco." While their sophomore album Machine was simply Wisconsin Death Trip part two, with a few melodic elements tossed in (most notably on single "Cold"), Shadow Zone is a metamorphosis, a 90 degree turn towards something different. Sure, Static-X's trademark industrial sound was still prevalent, but melody and variety began to enter the band's limited musical vocabulary, words that would eventually go in one ear and out the other in future releases.

Static-X has never been the darlings of critics; so often has the band been criticized for their Ministry-worship and their monotonous, droning tone. Fans were easy to come by, once the right single ("I'm With Stupid") was in play. These fans followed the band through hell and high water, through line-up changes and similar-sounding records. Shadow Zone, however, would cause unease, even contempt, from the growing fan base. Melody, ballads, clean vocals: blasphemy, in the eyes of the loyal Static-ers. Where was the heavy electronics; the aggressive vocals; the distortion?!



"Destroy All" Live Graspop 2007


The answer was, it was still there, just hidden in the background, only used to accentuate the mood or to occasionally please the rabid fans who wanted twelve tracks of "Push It" and "I'm With Stupid." More too often, Static-X takes their time to build up their songs, keeping the listener waiting for that one big moment, that one catchy section that will leave a lasting impression. The issue with Shadow Zone is that with a few of the songs, that moment never comes, leaving the listener with a hollow feeling of disappointment.

Looking at Static-X's catalog six years after its release, Shadow Zone seems like nothing more than a misstep, a botched musical abomination that was kicked to the curb by the band. On the band's recent live album, Cannibal Killers Live, the only song on the 17-song set list played from Shadow Zone was opener "Destroy All." All the other songs were forgotten about, left to languish with all the other forgotten tunes from the band's past.

Shadow Zone deserves more credit than most of the music population gives it. At times, in-between the sappy ballads and the clean vocals of Wayne Static, which sounded like the bastard child of Jonathan Davis and Layne Staley, a brilliant moment surfaces, one that seemingly appears out of thin air. It's not an original album, nor is it one that the band seemed to appreciate, but Shadow Zone rose above the grave that everybody dug for it, living out a renewed existence.

Shadow Zone opens up with "Destroy All," a breath-taking metal machine that gets by on pure adrenaline alone. As Static screams the title, with Eisen doing a mini-solo in the background, Shadow Zone seems like a behemoth ready to topple anything in its path. Instead of keeping the momentum soaring, Static-X brings the album back down to earth with a few mid-paced rompers. These don't quite have the same impact of "Destroy All," but with the catchy chorus of "Control It" and the groovy sound of the title track, Static-X keeps the flow going strong.



"The Only" Live Carson Daly Show


A pair of faster numbers brings the intensity back to fever-pitch, and shows fans who were concerned about Static-X's sudden change of heart that they could still kick some ass along the way. "The Only" opens the second half of Shadow Zone with a mainstream single, one that has a decent solo and vocal performance from Static. For me the second half is much stronger than the first, save for the positioning of tracks, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I want to briefly talk about the one-two combination of "Kill Your Idols" and "All In Wait," a throwback to the Wisconsin Death Trip days. These tracks are interesting, not only because of their sound, but because of their placement right next to each other. To me, it seemed like the band was saying "Ok, you want some old-school shit, here you go, now leave us alone!" These two tracks are surprisingly great, utilizing the band's new ideas with their old sound. It works well when Static alternates clean vocals and aggressive screams on the former, while the latter has a great interplay between the rhythm guitar and drummer in the extended bridge.

Shadow Zone stumbles a bit at the end, with an over-reliance on ballads. "So" and "Invincible" are both cut from the Alice In Chains cloth, with over-used multi-tracked vocals. The former is the stronger of the two, with a more emotional wallop and a solid performance from the band itself. Having two ballads, split up by a pointless instrumental, definitely kills the flow of the album as a whole; as a result, Shadow Zone sputters to the finish line, a far cry from the exciting middle portion. If the ballads were split better, Shadow Zone would have flowed better as a whole.

Shadow Zone is not an easy album to jump into, especially for industrial metal fans expecting more of the same from Static-X. It takes some time, and Shadow Zone may not connect immediately, if at all. In the off-chance that the album does resonate, it leaves behind a satisfying, if derivative, feeling. The album isn't original, and it isn't a masterpiece of epic proportion, but it is the sound of a band trying to mature their songwriting, for better or worse. On that alone, Static-X deserves way more credit than they received back in 2003.


The Conclusion

Sorry boys and girls, no Who The Hell Is…. Work was a bitch this week, and I didn't have time to dedicate to a new band. Don't worry; it will be back next week, as well as a look at Papa Roach's third album, 2002's Lovehatetragedy, an album that showed an edgier side of the band. The band couldn't match the success of Infest, and I'll look into why I feel that Lovehatetragedy is not only a stronger album than Infest, but the band's most underrated album.