 
Mr Wayne Static announced at the end of 2009 that
he would be taking time away from Static-X for
the next couple years to focus on his first solo
album “Pighammer”. Now it’s
no big secret that I am a massive Static-Xfan
but even I wasn’t a fan of their latest
output “Cult of Static”, it just was
nowhere near on par with their incredible earlier
albums such as “Shadow Zone” and “Start
a War”. I did have a strong feeling that
simply because it was Wayne no matter what he
did with this album it would still have links
to Static-X due to his distinctive voice, I was
right but not only that the music is also quite
similar.
Don’t however take that to say that this
won’t be a success, Static-X normally put
an album out every couple of years and following
that last album another one wouldn’t draw
much of an interest, so drawing hype around this
solo album was a good way of gaining some interest
once again. Imagine a cross between the experimental
styles within “Cannibal” and the heavy
chaotic earlier material found in “Machine”
and “Wisconsin Death Trip” and that
appears to be the style Static intends on reviving.
“Around the Turn” is the perfect example,
listen to that song and it’s near enough
exactly like a track from “Cannibal”
heavy and sampled giving an atmospheric sound.
I think that’s what he’s trying to
do with it, really explore what directions he
can take his distinctive styles, because “The
Creatures are Everywhere” is more of a sinister
low tempo track and “She” sees the
first time Wayne engages in spoken word verses.
I do heavily feel this was a tester album, to
really see what’s working for future projects
and releases, even so the release is still terrific
due it its diversity and retro feel with modern
twinges. If Static can ride this momentum wave,
the next Static-X album and tour should be a huge
success and if not we at least know he will still
have an outlet with this project.
4/5
Review by James Webb
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