Static-X - Shadow Zone (2003)^{Release ID: 5112}

With nu metal being at its peak in 2001, it’s no surprise that Static-X’s album that year, ‘Machine’, gave them a huge mainstream push and garnered them a bigger fan base than before. Looking to capitalize on that success (and apparently with record label pressure to boot), it’s even less of a surprise that their third album, 2003’s ‘Shadow Zone’ picks up where its predecessor left off.

While there is a slightly more melodic emphasis to this album than previous releases, ‘Shadow Zone’ is still an unrelenting assault of industrial grooves and pounding, jackhammer guitar riffs, sounding massively overproduced to help make the music as big and beefy as possible. The songs are well written, and Wayne Static’s unique blend of singing, shouting, grunting, and whatever other random noises he makes, helps give the band a bit of their own identity (although, there are a couple of instances where he sounds reminiscent of Korn’s Jonathan Davis).

All the tracks on ‘Shadow Zone’ are very short in duration, with only three of them barely scraping by the four-minute mark by mere seconds, however, this makes the album easy to digest, and while some of the songs are catchier than others, none of them have time to drag on, making this album flow effortlessly. And an abundance of electronic effects give the music a great ambience and vibe.

Songs like ‘Shadow Zone’, ‘Monster’, ‘Destroy All’, ‘New Pain’, ‘Kill Your Idols’, ‘The Only’ and the melodic and eerie ‘So’ are all highlights that make this album worth checking out. While nu metal’s day at the top were Static-X’s best realistic chance at mainstream success, ‘Shadow Zone’ is still a great listen for industrial fans, and any metal fans that like their music intense, heavy and accessible might enjoy this too.

For a newcomer to the industrial metal genre, it's hard to think of a more accessible and, I won't dare say it, "edible" album. Just as we used to google after playing NFS to find out who the geniuses were who composed "The Only", the new generation of teenage alternative lovers of the noughties will be among the first to listen to this album on Spotify. 

Many metal nerds will call it pop, but in fact, it has everything we love alternative industrial metal for: fat guitar riffs, tight mechanical rhythm section, driving vocals, and an abundance of keyboards, which creates a cyber-urban industrial atmosphere. We'd like to highlight the most incendiary tracks "Kill Your Idols", "Destroy All", and the epically melodic "So". 

Though Static-X with their eternal "Otsego..." semi-hits are not the most experimental and diverse band, but this time they managed to create an album full of hits for rhythmic and melodic head bobbing to them. Recommended to every newcomer of industrial metal. 7/10

P.S. My mother says that the beginning of the track "Control It" sounds like a door creaking. Have you noticed that too, or is she delusional?)