''Cult of Static'' is the sixth studio album by American

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band

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 d ...

. It was released on March 17, 2009 via

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

. The album's first single "Stingwray" was released and made available on the band's

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

page on February 17, 2009. The album's title is a reference to the die-hard fans who have supported the band for so long. This would be Static-X's last studio album for eleven years, as well as the last to feature drummer Nick Oshiro and founding member and vocalist

Wayne Static Wayne Richard Wells (November 4, 1965 – November 1, 2014), known professionally as Wayne Static, was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, and primary lyricist for the industrial metal band St ...

during his lifetime, though the latter's posthumously released work was included on the band's 2020 album '' Project: Regeneration Vol. 1''. ''Cult of Static'' also marked the last time Static-X worked with John Travis, and was the band's last album on Reprise Records.

Album information

Though "Lunatic" was the first single for the album, the song had been released on the

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

's ''Punisher: War Zone'' soundtrack. The song was based partially on a warrior, similar to the Punisher character, and was re-recorded for the album to feature a guitar solo by

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

leader

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...

. The album was produced by John Travis, who also produced Static-X's previous album ''

Cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecology, ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well ...

''. ''Cult of Static'' continued the band's use of guitar solos and the songs feature more samples and electronic sounds than the previous album, ''Cannibal''. "Stingwray" is available on iTunes and on Static-X's Myspace. The band's logo on the cover artwork is the same one from '' Wisconsin Death Trip''.

Reception

The album debuted at #16 on the

Billboard Top 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular Album, music albums and extended play, EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an recor ...

chart and sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week, making it the band's highest charting album since 2001's ''

Machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...

'' and the album received generally mixed reviews from music critics.

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted.

Personnel

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar ** Koichi Fukuda – lead guitar, keyboards, programming **

Tony Campos Antonio Campos (born March 8, 1973) is an American musician. He is the current bassist for the industrial metal bands Static-X and Fear Factory and the vocalist and bassist for the extreme metal band Asesino. He has previously played with Prong ...

– bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Talk Dirty to Me" ** Nick Oshiro – drums Additional musicians *

– first guitar solo on "Lunatic" * Marc Jameson – keyboards Production *Wayne Static – production *John Travis - production, engineering, mixing *Tom Baker - mastering *Aaron Paul - assistant engineering *Nelly Recchia - paintings, photography *Paul Brown - design

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Static-X albums Reprise Records albums