With the band recently celebrating the gold and soon-to-be-platinum certification for their single “Push It”, metal icons STATIC-X have announced a 25th-anniversary edition of their legendary debut, “Wisconsin Death Trip”. Released in 1999, the album introduced the world to the iconic lineup of Wayne Static, Koichi Fukuda, Tony Campos and Ken Jay. Spawning unforgettable hits as “Push It”, “I’m With Stupid” and “Bled For Days”, the LP found its way into pop culture through music videos, multiple video games and inclusion on various movie soundtracks. Years after its release, the album still find new audiences with Metal Hammer declaring the album one of the “Top 20 best metal albums of 1999” in 2021.
The anniversary edition — “Wisconsin Death Trip (25th Anniversary Corrosive Edition)” — is the ultimate death trip, containing two handmade, orange-and-black eclipse vinyl with remastered versions of the original album audio, presented in a comprehensive box set, filled with bonus tracks and never-seen artwork available worldwide on December 12. The band reunited with the original producer Ulrich Wild as well as original photographer Exum to deliver a whole new experience for the album. The album has been remastered by Wild, and a second disc of demos, alternate versions and rare tracks are included making the album total runtime over an hour and eleven minutes. Exum unearthed hundreds of never-before-seen photos from the shoot and the band have used them to completely redesign the packaging. Limited-edition deluxe versions include signed prints, laser engraved ID tag, ID bracelet with QR code linking to the full 8mm BTS video footage of the “Wisconsin Death Trip” photo shoot, pill bottle, stickers and more and is only available at www.static-x.com.
The track listing for “Wisconsin Death Trip (25th Anniversary Corrosive Edition)” is:
01. Push It
02. I’m With Stupid
03. Bled For Days
04. Love Dump
05. I Am
06. Otsegolation
07. Stem
08. Sweat Of The Bud
09. Fix
10. Wisconsin Death Trip
11. The Trance Is The Motion
12. December
13. Down
14. Head
15. Head (Titan AE)
16. S.O.M.
17. So Real
18. I Am (Unedited)
19. Wisconsin Death Trip (Unedited)
20. Love Dump (Demo)
21. I’m With Stupid (Single Edit)
22. December (Unedited)
Warner recently reissued the music video for “Push It” in high definition. The unforgettable music video helped launch the band to the masses thanks to the early support of MTV. The video was directed by Mick Olszewski and tapped into the clay animation style that was popular when released in 1999. Now available in high definition for the first time, fans can experience the video in a whole new way and add to the 34-million views it has received since it published in 2009.
STATIC-X‘s original “Wisconsin Death Trip” members Tony Campos, Koichi Fukuda and Ken Jay along with current vocalist/guitarist Xer0 will continue to bring their ultra entertaining Evil Disco extravaganza on the road throughout 2025. Along with festival appearances at Louder Than Life and Aftershock, the band will be supporting MUDVAYNE on their tour this September and October. STATIC-X will also play six headline shows throughout that run. DOPE will join the band on those headline shows. Tickets for all shows including VIP packages can be found at: www.static-x.com.
Although the identity of STATIC-X‘s touring singer has not been officially revealed, strong rumors suggest that DOPE‘s Edsel Dope is Xer0, the anonymous, somewhat ominous new frontman of STATIC-X who is wearing a mask while performing alongside Campos, Jay and Fukuda.
In a fall 2023 interview with Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3, Campos addressed STATIC-X‘s reliance on a “masked” vocalist instead of hiring a proper replacement for late frontman Wayne Static, saying: “It’s been really cool, man, how people have embraced that idea of having the character up there being the representative of Wayne‘s vibe and spirit without us being, like, ‘Hey, here’s STATIC-X with their new singer.’ That’s not what we wanted to do. So, we were just, like, ‘How do we represent Wayne in a cool way?’ And I think this is a really cool way to do it.”
He continued: “I keep coming back to the IRON MAIDEN analogy — not only was Wayne our Bruce Dickinson [IRON MAIDEN singer], but he was also our Eddie [IRON MAIDEN mascot]. He was the mascot for the band. So how do you represent that? And I think the Xer0 character does a good job at it.”
When Hall noted that it must be “a pretty powerful experience” for him to be looking over and seeing Xer0 channeling the spirit of Wayne during STATIC-X‘s live shows, Tony said: “When we first started and I’m up there headbanging doing my thing, out of my peripheral vision, I see that figure with the hair and I’m playing the songs again, it’s just like 20 years ago; it was just that vibe again. And having Koichi and, and Kenny up there, it was really cool, man. And especially those first couple of weeks, we’d be done with the show and we’d be back in the dressing room, and we’d all be, like, ‘Fuck, Wayne should be here.’ But we definitely feel this vibe and presence.”
Static died after mixing Xanax and other powerful prescription drugs with alcohol, according to the coroner’s report. The 48-year-old, whose real name was Wayne Richard Wells, was found dead in his Landers, California home on November 1, 2014.
Static founded STATIC-X in 1994 and achieved commercial success with “Wisconsin Death Trip”, which included the rock radio hit “Push It”.
The group issued five more studio albums before disbanding permanently in June 2013. Static had been pursuing a solo career at the time of his death.
Dope told Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio that the reason Xer0‘s identity has not been officially revealed is that he wants to make sure that STATIC-X is “properly represented, because I would never be interested in looking at a photo of STATIC-X or reading a liner note that mentions me as being the singer of STATIC-X. Edsel Dope has no interest in being the singer of STATIC-X,” he clarified. “There’s one living, breathing singer of STATIC-X, and that’s Wayne Static. And then there’s a character, an entity, for lack of better words, that was created in order to allow STATIC-X to have a future and to continue and be the legacy act that they are and tour and perform, and we gave that character a name that is respective to STATIC-X and fits the branding of what STATIC-X is, and that’s what the importance is. It’s the importance of recognizing the character as opposed to recognizing the person behind the character.”
Back in October 2019, a photo was posted online clearly showing that Dope and Xer0 shared the same neck tattoo. However, Edsel later posted a lengthy statement on his band’s Facebook page attempting to quash the rumors, implying Xer0‘s distinctive body ink was in fact a Photoshop job. Dope even provided a photograph of himself supposedly observing a STATIC-X performance sidestage to prove he and Xer0 were not the same person.
STATIC-X‘s “Project Regeneration Vol. 1” LP came out in July 2020. The first of two volumes, it featured 12 brand new tracks, containing many of the final vocal performances and musical compositions of Wayne Static, along with the original “Wisconsin Death Trip” lineup of Campos, Jay and Fukuda. A follow-up album, “Project Regeneration: Vol. 2”, arrived on January 26, 2024. A collection of 14 brand-new songs, the LP was produced by Xer0 and mixed/mastered by longtime collaborator Ulrich Wild.
