Static-X frontman Wayne Static passed away on November 1, 2014 and the band's presumably final album was Cult Of Static in 2009. I say "presumably" because it made perfect sense for that to be the last of the band, but now we've learned that isn't quite the case. Static-X has announced a new album called Project Regeneration for 2019, which will feature the final vocal recordings of Wayne Static alongside "12 and 15 brand new Static-X tracks" recorded by original lineup bassist Tony Campos, drummer Ken Jay and guitarist Koichi Fukuda.
The album doesn't have a release date yet. Campos adds Static-X will do a world tour to celebrate Static-X's 1999 debut record Wisconsin Death Trip with guest vocalists. No guest vocalists have yet ben confirmed, but Campos says they're reaching out to the frontmen of Ministry, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, DevilDriver and Fear Factory.
"With the 20th anniversary of Wisconsin Death Trip coming right around the corner, it feels like the right time to pay our respects — to the band, to Wayne and to all the fans that supported us right from the start. With the help of longtime Static-X producer Ulrich Wild, the original band lineup of myself, Tony Campos, guitarist Koichi Fukuda and drummer Ken Jay are in the process of completing a brand new Static-X record, Project Regeneration. The album will feature the final vocal performances and musical compositions from Wayne Static. For the unfinished tracks, we're inviting our friends to lend us their vocal talents to help us complete this very personal project. With the assistance of SiriusXM's Jose Mangin, we are in the process of reaching out to David Draiman from Disturbed, Ivan Moody of Five Finger Death Punc, Al Jourgensen from Ministry, Dez Fafara from Coal Chamber and DevilDriver, Edsel from the band Dope, Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory, as well as a handful of others, to see if they can take some time off their busy schedules to help contribute to this project.
"In the end, we expect this album to be between 12 and 15 brand new Static-X tracks. It's the original lineup back together for all the right reasons."
It'll be interesting to see how well this album and tour do. How well did Static-X's legacy and music hold up over the years? Will people be driven by the nostalgia factor to go see Wisconsin Death Trip tracks played with new frontmen? I mean, sure – that album is actually pretty damn good, but 20 years down the road we'll see how it fares in an altered incarnation.
It's also a little weird they announced the tour without having any frontmen committed to the project.
