Wayne Static – Pighammer
Genre: Electronica, Nu Metal
Label: Dirthouse Records
Man. It has to of been at least ten years since I last heard a Static-X song and longer since I heard one that I enjoyed. Yeah, I was a fan of Wisconsin Death Trip (and Machine to a lesser extent) back in zee day. But that’s were I drew the line. The X-men just kinda fizzled out on me around that time. And since I stopped paying attention to them around that time, I was amazed to find out while researching Pighammer that they released an album as last as… 2009?! Seriously? Wow… color me impressed that there was still an audience for monotonous three chord repetition, grating vocals and nonsensical lyrics.
But hey, that was a long time ago. Maybe the Super Sayian haired frontman’s solo project will make me want to search the dollar bin at my local Buybacks for their discography?
Well, it still sort of sounds like Static-X. Thumbs down on that end. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Sure, the riffing is simplistic but this time around, I hear glimpses of catchiness! Other than that though, Wayne’s voice is the same as it ever was and his lyrical metaphors are no deeper than the g-spot on a midget hooker. Some advancements, but not many in that realm.
However, the parts of this album were Wayne focuses his attention on the electronica/”industrial” end of things; sampling and the other bits of technical shit that I don’t fully understand how it all works, this album resembles something listenable! I’m shocked that I’m actually going to have something positive to say about this album since I assumed it wasn’t going to be any good at all (shame on me for judging and album by the creepy looking guy on the cover). He made all sorts of creative choices in Pighammer that paid off: toning down the over-distortion that plagued past albums, integrating samples and adding vocals from his wife (porn hottie Tera Wray) in areas where they actually seemed needed instead of cramming them in wherever, etc…
Overall: A slightly different variety of shit delivered in a slightly different way. There is enough of the old Static-X school of music to keep the original diehards interested, but like more of us, some of the old guard will turn their noses up at this offering. In all honesty, Mr. Static was going for something relatively new and creative here to varying degrees of success and failure and the parts that are more industro-lectronica are actually fairly decent.
5/10
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