Band:	Static-X
Album:	Project Regeneration, Vol. 2
Style:	Alternative metal, Industrial metal
Release date:	January 2024

01. Stay Alive
02. Z0mbie
03. Jic-Boi
04. Black Star
05. Kamikaze
06. No Hope
07. Take Control
08. Tone
09. Run For Your Life
10. Dark Place
11. Disco Otsego
12. From Heaven
13. Terrible Lie [Nine Inch Nails cover][bonus]
14. Grover Yoda Data 14 [bonus]

Talk about mixed feelings.

It's hard to believe its been ten years since the untimely passing of Wayne Static, the integral member of Static-X. The band have since reformed and found a new lease of life in taking ideas and recordings made by Wayne and working them into fully fledged songs. While it is enjoyable to hear some more Static-X material, the absence of Wayne is sorely felt.

I've long been sceptical of posthumous releases, wondering if the material released was intended to see the light of day by the artist, whether what we are hearing is true to their vision, or just a compilation of cutting room floor pieces/B-sides that the writer didn't intend to release on an album proper. While this scepticism is somewhat allayed by the band comprising long-time members who know the Static-X sound and were integral to its original DNA, there are times I wonder if Project Regeneration, Vol. 2 features the tracks that were deemed as not good enough for Project Regeneration, Vol. 1, or were a work in progress prior to Static's passing and were left behind as they didn't have that magic injected into them yet.

Whatever the nature of some of these songs are, they make for some enjoyable listening, with the likes of "Z0mbie", "Jic-Boi" and "Kamikaze" sounding like they would have fit in well on the band's earlier works. "Stay Alive" has a good, driving energy that will pull you into the album, while the following two tracks raise your expectations. Xer0 (aka Edsel Dope) does a good job filling in vocal parts where they were not, or could not, be pulled from Wayne's recordings. The rest of the band ensure the material does sound like Static-X, giving fans that familiar industrial groove.

While I'm grateful for the chance to hear more Static-X material, as an album it does feel more like a B-side compilation; it's an enjoyable bonus, but not one that reaches the heights of the band's regular releases. Songs like "Black Star" and "Dark Place" are enjoyable, but feel unfinished and lacking the finer details that could have elevated them. "Run For Your Life" typifies this, featuring the bones of a track but lackingt the flesh built upon to make it anything more than just OK.

Ultimately, however, Project Regeneration, Vol. 2 is unable to shake off my prior doubts that the album consists of material unfinished as it lacked that magic touch, or weren't deemed good enough by Wayne. It is an enjoyable listen overall for sure, but it doesn't go beyond that at any point. If they are to continue, I'd rather they write original material than try to build from incomplete blueprints left over from Wayne.