Static-X

Static-X return, bloodless and crisp as ever. Vocals vacillate between tuneful bellow and tuneless bark, digitally distorted down-tuned guitars grind, taut snares snap, and the occasional synths arpeggiate. This almost prototypically nu-metal album is respectfully but incongruously dedicated to the memory of murdered Pantera/Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell, shot and killed by a crazed fan in late 2004. Whereas Dimebag’s blues-inflected Southern thrash achieved its weight through a kind of loose, cocky swagger, Static-X aims for lock-step precision. The result is stasis. The production is successful to the extent that it distracts from the not infrequent silliness of Wayne Static’s lyrics. Particularly grievous is "Just in Case,” a kind of belated nu-metal "Hollaback Girl,” in which Static asserts that he "don’t wanna be a just in case boy.” Here as elsewhere, Static’s shit is bananas.