Static-X

I’ve always had industrial metal down as one of the most unusual genres - insofar that it seems to have struggled to gain too much of a foothold within the popular metal community, let alone the wider musical one - but within its own sphere, within that niche, there are plenty of hardcore subscribers. LA outfit Static-X - who, admittedly, flew a little too close to nu metal territory for their own good during the early noughties - remain a fine example of the cult of the industrial band; they enjoyed a successful enough career to allow them to release six full-lengths and tour the world constantly. Things seemed to fall apart for them pretty quickly in the late noughties, though; after their last album, Cult of Static, performed strongly critically and commercially in 2009, frontman Wayne Static put the band on the back burner to focus on solo project Pighammer, and his bandmates moved on, effectively dissolving the band. Static did tour with solo band under the Static-X name in 2012, but the shows lacked the usual fizz and crackle of the band’s heyday, as well as the sheer heaviness of their live peak; both group and fans knew it was over, with their second split announced in June of last year.