Static-X
Start a War

THE REVIEW

On June 20, 2004, Beneath... Between... Beyond..., a collection of rare, unreleased, and demo tracks, was released. Due to this collection's release, many thought it marked the end of Static-X. However, shortly after Beneath... Between... Beyond..., the band began working on their fourth album, Start a War. In February 2005, Tripp Eisen (the guitarist) was arrested in a sex scandal involving minors, and consequently, he was expelled from Static-X. Former guitarist Koichi Fukuda, who had been involved in the new album, returned to Static-X to fill the gap left by Eisen. Start a War was finally released on June 14, 2005. "I'm the One" and "Dirthouse" were released as singles from the album. From this album, the song "Skinnyman" is featured in the soundtrack of the famous racing video game Need For Speed: Most Wanted.

Start A War is damn fun, honest as it reveals its nature right away (with the usual futurist sheen that is extremely pleasant with Static-X), sincere even in its naivety. Clashing with the flaw of a too anonymous writing style because it is conformist (engulfing dark spins, dark recesses, some thrash surges), Wayne Static and company compensate with a firepower not heard in a long time, thanks also to the explosive production by Ulrich Wild (producer of the remarkable debut "Wisconsin Death Trip" and the second "Machine") and the work on guitars and programming by the returning Koichi Fukuda. But let's now detail the tracks on the album.

A war is about to start, beginning with a whisper that quickly opens up and shows its face "The Enemy", very beautiful. "I'm The One", a more than exquisite song, beautiful, with quick take melodic twists, it makes me think of the movie "The One", it's even better than the previous one. And so only now begins the real war, "Start A War", for the first time the title-track is the best song on the Static-X album, it's truly a gem to cherish, I will never get tired of listening to it. Not a second of rest "Pieces", beautiful, almost like the title-track, "My body, my mind, my soul, and my life... So far, so near, so hard, so clear... My body, my mind, my soul, and my life... Too far to go, too high, too low... Frustrated, frustrated..."."Dirthouse" resembles an irresistible march like that of White Zombie. "Skinnyman" seems to me a very serious, melancholic and sad song, and perhaps that's what makes it so appreciable?; while the peculiar "Just In Case" is a cerebral and alluring unhealthy invective, almost makes you think of Sepultura in their golden age. Although "Set It Off" has its charm, it didn't attract me much; conversely, I was very attracted by the funny start of "I Want to Fucking Break It", which soon turns into a very respectable song. Serious right from the start is, however, "Night Terrors", which I find already much better than the previous three. Night terrors in my mind, from which I cannot hide, dreams that play with my deepest fears, night terrors in my head, am I really dead?, I can't tell, it feels so real. And here's the last "Otsego" of the series, "Otsego Amigo", this time it's an almost black, delirious, and tasty torture, as well as the very melancholic "My Damnation". The record practically ends here, but instead as a finale, we have the very strange "Brainfog", strange because, after the first 2 minutes and 20 seconds it stops, is it over? yet it says it lasts 9 minutes and 53 seconds, obviously, we do not wait around, we skip ahead quickly. At 7 minutes and 27 seconds, you hear Wayne singing a part of "Otsego Amigo" with extra, but without the music below, then the last thirteen seconds are closed with drums and bass.