Blame — or thank — Billy Corgan for the deafening roar of Static-X. Reportedly The Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman introduced lead singer Wayne Richard Wells (better known as Wayne Static) to drummer Ken Jay at Virgin Megastore in Chicago. After relocating to Los Angeles and completing the equation with bassist Tony Campos and guitarist Koichi Fukuda, Static-X started pumping out a heavy-hitting blend of metal marked by pulsing industrial beats and cinematic samples (including ones from from Planet of the Apes, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama). Fueled by the singles “I’m with Stupid,” “Bled for Days,” and “Push It” (which was tapped for the video game Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes) the band’s 1999 Warner Bros. debut Wisconsin Death Trip earned such varied praise as “refreshingly large, loud and groovable” (CMJ) and “gutbucket thrash for the most jaded of teenaged parking lot dwellers (AllMusic). Named after Michael Lesy’s 1973 book of disturbing 19th-century newspaper clippings and corpse-ridden photographs by Charles Van Schaick, the platinum-selling album set the bar high for solid follow-ups Machine (2001), Shadow Zone (2003), Start a War (2005), Cannibal (2007), and Cult of Static (2009). Lineup changes and departures — including one that saw Static touring and recording as Pighammer — threatened to end the chaos, but the man with towering locks of black recently announced, “It’s time to get Static-X back on the road. I can’t wait to tear it up with some old school Evil Disco!” The industrial metalheads’ “Noise Revolution Tour” kicked off Sunday at the Ink Life Tattoo Convention in El Paso and touches down at Backstage Live on Saturday with special guests Davey Suicide and 9 Electric and local support from Secret Secure and The Akuzma. $18.50-$27; doors at 7pm Sat, Jul 21; Backstage Live, 1305 E Houston, (210) 224-2749, frontgatetickets.com.
