Reflections In Sound #1 ~ Machine by Static-X

[Grievous 3D]

Released: May 22nd 2001
Record Label: Warner Bros.
Producer: Ulrich Wild
Band Line Up:
Wayne Static ~ lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming...
Tony Campos ~ bass, backing vocals...
Ken Jay ~ drums, writing credit...
Additional Personnel:
Koichi Fukuda ~ keyboards, programming, writing credit...
Tripp Eisen ~ lead guitar (band credit and photos only)...
Ulrich Wild ~ keyboards, programming

Some History:
On March 23rd 1999 the debut album by Static-X
entitled "Wisconsin Death Trip" was released by
Warner Bros. & would eventually go Platinum on
the back of the songs Push It, I'm With Stupid &
Bled For Days as well as the band's strong live
shows as they toured the world.

The band would re-enter the studio in October 2000
& with producer Ulrich Wild spend the next 4 months
writing & recording their second (& in my opinion)
best album.

In this first installment of Reflections In Sound
I will give you an in-depth look into the Static-X
album Machine & why to this day it remains one
of my all time favorites.

Released on May 22nd 2001 again by Warner Bros.
Machine is an album that carries a certain amount
of nostalgia for me...but to understand that...I
need to tell you about myself personally.

Some Context:
So back when I was a younger man I use to be a
singer (if you can call it that) in a metal band. Now
the "Metal Scene" in my town was pretty small &
extremely narrow minded as far as musical taste
went.

Basically if it wasn't Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera,
Slayer, or (Max Era) Sepultura is was lame & "gay"

Now being a very open-minded fellow...I was that
one guy who liked Industrial music.

Ministry, Fear Factory, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson,
Rammstein, White/Rob Zombie...I listened to all of these
artists that were shunned by my peers...which was fine
by me because they made those bands more important
& overall special for me personally.

It was a genre of metal music that I alone enjoyed &
while I knew my "friends" were being incredibly
narrow minded...it was their loss.

It was during this time in my life that Static-X arrived
& for a few short years of my life I can truly admit they
were THE band for me.

While many music journalists accused them of simply being
a mishmash of industrial & nu-metal (I'm not getting into
that now) with no real talent (& a silly haircut)...I never saw
the band as that.

For me Static-X simply focused & streamlined the elements
of industrial metal while fusing it with the emotional fury of
nu-metal.

To me it made perfect sense & while the band rarely did
anything groundbreaking or original...what metal bands
have truly achieved that?

Thoughts:
Now Machine is Static-X at their heaviest & most focused
& I think that can be attributed to front man & main song
writer Wayne Static having near complete control of the
writing & recording process.

Guitarist Koichi Fukuda (while still contributing some
keyboards & programming to Machine) had decided to leave
the band before the album was recorded meaning Machine
was recorded with Static-X as a 3 piece as his replacement
Tripp Eisen did not join the band till after the album was
already completed.

To me you can almost hear that on this album...you can
almost hear that only one guy is "pulling the strings"
(much like Trent Reznor does with Nine Inch Nails) & for
me its the main reason everything is so focused.

The less people involved with a creative process the
more focused the art will be & Machine benefits from
this.

(Sidebar: Wayne Static would eventually release a
solo album 10 years later entitled "Pighammer" which
was okay I guess)

The performances themselves are great with every
instrument sounding perfect, meshing together to
create for the most part a wall of industrial fury.

The drums snap & crack, the guitars riff & roar &
the bass throbs & grooves while Wayne delivers
his most aggressive vocals ever.

Everything works.

Now with every one of these "reviews" I intend to
do a track by track synopsis to give you an idea
of how I think the album flows as a body of work.

You feeling me? Cool...so...lets begin & start up
this machine...

Track By Track:
#1. Bien Venidos ~ 0:22 (Instrumental Intro)
An extremely short piece of Mirachi (is that right?)
music that quickly gives way to...

#2. Get to the Gone ~ 2:50 (Speeder)
Drop in drop out
To begin with it's killing me
Killing the one thing
I know this to be

A pure blast of industrial fury. Get to the Gone is
one of the best tracks the band ever penned & it sets
the tone for the rest of the album. The catchy riffs,
the galloping drums, the low end bass & of course the
screaming...the glorious, throat shredding screaming.

#3. Permanence ~ 4:01 (Stomper)
Sacred rituals I comply
Cold and curdled are my insides but
Everything is as this surprise
Everything is as curled up cries of

The band wisely decide to keep the momentum going with
this noisy, mid-paced cruncher that while nothing special
has a certain lumbering charm to it. Its actually hard to
describe why this track works as well as it does but much
like the rest of the album its powerful & focused.

#4. Black And White ~ 3:50 (Melodic)
Losing your mind
Losing your mind
It's blurring
It's fading
Your soul's on fire
It's black and white

Next up we see the band showing their more melodic
side with a more "mainstream" blast of "groove" metal.
Black And White is an interesting piece because if
you were to strip it down to its bare elements...it
actually could be mistaken for a modern pop song.



#5. This Is Not ~ 2:57 (Speeder)
I say I can't come
You say this ain't home
Hating this I mouth your name

As if realizing that the previous track may have
had some fans worried the band kick back into high
gear with another extremely quick blast of disco
metal power. Like Get to the Gone it shows the band
could handle a much faster tempo with their tunes.



#6. Otsego Undead ~ 3:30 (Stomper)
Inhuman
Undying
Feast of blood now
Pulse through me
Immortal
I'm undying
Eternal
Undead

Another fantastic track keeps the quality high as
Otsego Undead charges its way into your ears. The
song is catchy being built around a constant drum
beat with the vocals & guitars dropping out at certain
points.

#7. Cold ~ 3:41 (Melodic)
We kiss
The Stars
We writhe
We are
Your name
Desire
Your flesh
We are

And now we arrive at the centerpiece of the album
with the extremely melodic Cold. The song itself is
much like Black And White but with a slower tempo
& greater focus on the vocals. It shows that the
band wasn't afraid to try their hand with melody &
while I find Black And White a better track...Cold
is special in its own right.



#8. Structural Defect ~ 3:39 (Stomper)
Crowbar to force the hold
Drill into it into it
Eat all the problems leave
Bleeding from it

Now while the album has been extremely good so
far & I truly believe there isn't a bad tune to be
heard here...well...there is a drop in quality for
the second half of the album. Now there is nothing
wrong with this track...but there really isn't
anything that great about it either.

#9. $hit In A Bag ~ 4:22 (Stomper)
It's after it's never
Tie me down
It's too late
Tie me up
It's now or it's never
Tie me down
It's pouring out

Now this track is interesting because while its
another "standard" Static-X song...its lyrical
content sways between disgusting & funny & well...
it maybe the best ever metal song written about
dropping a deuce.

#10. Burn To Burn ~ 4:18 (Stomper)
Burn to burn
The seed we sow
Burn to flow
Into the sorrow
Burn to burn
The seed we sow
Burn to grow
Into the sorrow

Much like Structural Defect this track is a
"standard" Static-X song that while solid pales
in comparison to the earlier material on the
album.

#11. Machine ~ 3:27 (Crawler)
I see your bleeding dark side
I feel your angry heart
Reveals forbidden places
More monster yet alive

Now after a few standard songs the band decide
to finish the album off in the best way possible.
The title track itself is fantastic with its slow,
creepy verses anchored by a throbbing bass line
before seemingly "taking off" during the madly
barked chorus. The song sways back & forth perfectly
as it ebbs & flows like thick industrial audio soup
& it makes a great statement as the title track.

#12. A Dios Alma Perdida ~ 5:58 (Instrumental Crawler)
And so the album comes to an end with this...a 6
minute instrumental that is nothing more than a
lumbering dirge slowed paced riffs that give way
to feedback & distortion.

Top Tracks:
Get to the Gone
Black And White
Otsego Undead
Cold
Machine

Trivia:
~ The Japanese version of the album featured two bonus tracks...
"Anything But This" (which should have been on the album proper)
& a live version of "Sweat of the Bud"
~ The opening of "A Dios Alma Perdida" features samples of an
Alien conversation from the film "Laserblast" which would in turn
show up as the final episode of MST3K's season 7.
~ "$hit In A Bag" is written about being on a tour bus with no
toilet & needing to...well...you know.
~ The opening sample of the title track features the line:
"We've entered a/the Shadow Zone" which was a strange piece
of foreshadowing for their next release in 2003.
~ "Black And White" "This Is Not" & "Cold" were all released as
singles with music videos.
~ "Cold" was also featured on the "Queen of the Damned" soundtrack
with Wayne Static also providing vocals for the Jonathan Davis penned
song "Not Meant For Me" due to a legal dispute at the time.



What Happened Next:
Well...Static-X would continue to tour & release albums for the next
8 years with Shadow Zone (2003), Start A War (2005), Cannibal (2007)
& Cult of Static (2009) with a couple of line up changes along the way
before going on hiatus in 2010.

Wayne Static would begin touring as a solo artist with his solo album
"Pighammer" released later 2011. In 2012 Wayne decided to reform
Static-X but none of the other original members would partake and
this version of the band would disband in 2013. Wayne would continue
to tour solo & play Static-X tracks but...

Ugh...

On November 1st 2014 Wayne Static would die at the age of 48 & his
widow Tera Wray would commit suicide on January 13th 2016.

Jesus H. Christ...I honestly didn't intend for this to become such a
morbid piece...but this is something I've been meaning to do for a
few years now.

While many people out there were heartbroken over "recent" deaths
of Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington & Prince...the Death of Wayne
Static had a similar impact on me...and while I never met or knew the guy...
to this day I still appreciate the music he created and while I personally
thought Static-X slowly ran out of ideas & energy over time...

I'll always have Machine...& I'll always be thankful for that.

+++

Well...that's me done for now...Man...that was a rough
one.

Thanks for taking the time to read & listen & I guess
you will still be seeing me around some of these traps.

 

[Snowman1]

Shadow Zone was my first album, yo. I jammed it in my CD player constantly in high school and loved it even though everyone else was hooked on whatever Nickelback clone was popular that week... I feel your nostalgia, mate... Couldn't wait for Start a War and liked it. WDT was aight and... Somehow never head this.

Thanks for posting such random things around these traps.

 

[Grievous 3D]

Shadow Zone was my first album, yo. I jammed it in my CD player constantly in high school and loved it

Shadow Zone is a solid album...but for me Machine is their best.

even though everyone else was hooked on whatever Nickelback clone was popular that week...

That sounds awful...

Somehow never head this.

Best you change that...

Thanks for posting such random things around these traps.

No worries...

:thumbsup:

Random I can do...well...Random & Perverted.

 

[Black Wizard]

I like this idea for a topic. Maybe that's because at one point I wanted to start my own blog/site to do music reviews and wanted to do a track by track breakdown of albums.

Machine is a very solid album, and I'd also agree it's their best work. The later Static-X albums didn't interest me as much, but I still listen to Machine and Wisconsin Death Trip every now and then.

 

[Grievous 3D]

I like this idea for a topic.

Cheers. If the response is solid enough then I may
make it a "series" hence the #1 in the thread title.

Although if I'm being honest I've already started
work on #2...

Maybe that's because at one point I wanted to start my own blog/site to do music reviews and wanted to do a track by track breakdown of albums.

Sounds like a plan. I would gladly contribute.

I think listening to a full album rather than selected songs
is extremely important...but...I fear the music industry will
eventually move away from studio albums completely.

Machine is a very solid album, and I'd also agree it's their best work.

:thumbsup:

The later Static-X albums didn't interest me as much

Yeah...as much as I wanted to love them...I never could
the same way I do Machine or Wisconsin Death Trip.

Start A War had some great tracks on it...but...it fell
short for me as an actual album.

but I still listen to Machine and Wisconsin Death Trip every now and then.

:thumbsup:

 

[Grievous 3D]

The Dead Can Sing!

:emoji_smiley: