Cannibal - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
On its fifth album, Static X mines its familiar Prong-meets-Ministry sound to convincing effect over the course of twelve tracks of industrial metal darkness. Because the band's name alone makes comparisons to the likes of White Zombie, Korn, and Slipknot redundant, it's instead worth noting that Cannibal is arguably the group's leanest, most direct-sounding, and most metal album to date. And, if this album is a harbinger of the outfit's future ventures, then listeners are in for a eye-popping ride. Wayne Static and his cohorts are perhaps most effective on the stomping "Cuts You Up," the dark and discoesque "Behemoth," and the grand executioner of them all, "Destroyer." Still, the record suffers a bit for its intentions of brutality. The hit-and-run approach of Static's songwriting means that none of the tracks reach the four-minute mark and thus come off as vignettes rather than fully realized narratives. All in all, Cannibal may be the album that detractors and fans alike have been waiting for, the one that proves that Static means to take us on a longer and more interesting journey than we could have ever imagined. --Jedd Beaudoin

Album Description
Static-X's blunt-force-trauma melding of industrial rock, thrash metal and futuristic disco is back on the band's fifth studio album, Cannibal. From the carnivorous title track to the throat-punching grooves of "Destroyer," "Goat" and "Electric Pulse," Cannibal boasts the harshest, most stripped-down music Static-X has ever recorded.

Album Description
Static-X's blunt-force-trauma melding of industrial rock, thrash metal and futuristic disco is back on the band's fifth studio album, Cannibal. From the carnivorous title track to the throat-punching grooves of "Destroyer," "Goat" and "Electric Pulse," Cannibal boasts the harshest, most stripped-down music Static-X has ever recorded. This is the explicit version.

Customer Reviews: Read 58 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Back To Basics For Static-X April 11, 2007
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

Unlike most Static-X reviewers on here, I can honestly say that I've loved every Static-X album released so far. Some have obviously been better than others, but they're all good. "Cannibal" has a more stripped down sound, the electronics are still there, but they are more subtle on these guitar-driven tracks. I must say, I kinda miss the electronics sometimes because its part of what makes Static-X unique, but they're still present enough to make the album sound like them. The album is pretty raw, offering nothing along the lines of more radio-friendly tunes like "Cold" or "The Only." The albums first single, "Destroyer" is about as mainstream as it gets. Speaking of "Destroyer", I felt this song was probably one of the weaker tracks on here. I was definitely more impressed with tunes like "Cannibal" and "Cuts You Up". There's also "Forty Ways" (which sounds like a more constantly heavy version of "Love Dump") and "Goat" (which sounds like a slowed down version of "Fix"). This album also offers some old school metal riffs on tunes like "No Submission" and "Chemical Logic", almost like a riff you'd hear on Metallica's Kill Em All album. What's also different about this album is that almost every song offers a guitar solo, which is unusual for Static-X to do. On my first listen, this album didn't strike me as anything special, but on my 2nd and 3rd listens, I found it very catchy and fun. Even though this album is heavier and faster than much of the songs from "Shadow Zone" or "Start A War", I think the band is having as much fun as ever...this is metal to shake your a** to!

2 out of 5 stars

Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen. April 4, 2007
8 out of 20 found this review helpful

As a Static-X fan, I have been pretty supportive of all their different endeavors. I embraced the change they made with Shadow Zone and I even enjoyed Start a War, despite the fact that it was just a trip back to the past. And I know I'm not alone here. But when I listen to Static-X's fifth studio album, "Cannibal," I can't find much worth listening to. This is hands down, flat out, the most boring and uninspired piece of music this band has released to date.

Let's get right down to the point, because I don't want to waste too much of anyone's time on this one. You're gonna listen to the opening title track and think "Wow, this song really rocks. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about, the rest of the album can't be that bad." And why shouldn't you? The song isn't the Static-X we all know and love, but it does have sort of an old-school feel to it, and even features guitarwork by John 5. But then you get into the rest of the songs, and if you can even remember what they sounded like, since they mostly just blend into each other, you'll more than likely come to the same conclusion I have: This album stinks. It's boring. It's a bust. Static-X used to have a signature sound. Remember "Evil Disco?" Granted, I know it's not 1999 anymore, but it's like they don't even know what they are doing. When they do enter some electronic elements into the mix, it just sounds tacked on and cheesy.

You might be saying to yourself "Well, maybe it just takes time to grow on you." No, it doesn't. Believe it or not, this album gets worse with each listen. Static-X used to be such a cutting edge band back in their day, and I don't know how they fell off so badly. Even with their most consistent line-up to date, they have failed to stay relevent. Their past four albums have all had something to enjoy about them, this does not. "Cannibal" is utterly forgettable. It's twelve tracks play out like bad b-sides and with song titles such as "Goat" and "Team Hate," forget about it. I'll always enjoy Static-X's other work, but they can do so much better than this.

5 out of 5 stars

Return to the old... and thensome April 3, 2007
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

The fellas are back in full stride with Cannibal. Evil disco is back. Just finished listening to the album that I pre-ordered from Warner site. They werent bs'ing when they said it'll ship sometime around the release date (but i got kinda ripped since it costed me like 24 dollars or something just for an extra song. Not even a freakin cool slip-case or dvd bonuses like they had on their special edition cd's.. maaaaan). My album has the extra track "Get up and boogie" since I pre-ordered it from the Warner site. The old days of short and catchy music/lyrics are back. Not a song is "sung" like in the Start a War and Shadow Zone. They even do guitar solos now. The tech-lectric background ambient noises are top-notch and compliment the songs well also. I think this is their most "metal" attempt thus far. Well done guys, now I can wear my static-x shirt again with pride.

5 out of 5 stars

Cannibal OWNS! April 4, 2007
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Happy to see Static-X got back on the harder side. I absolutely love all their albums, but Wisconsin Death Trip and Cannibal are my favorites. Lower guitar tunings (like on start a war) and now some crazy solos and good whammy pedal use that most guitarists always f-up. Dime owned on a whammy pedal as well. Easy 5 stars on this one, keep it up guys!

3 out of 5 stars

(2.5 stars) Hmmm.... September 5, 2007
6 out of 10 found this review helpful

It's curious what Static-X were thinking when they released their fifth full length. On this year's "Cannibal," the Los Angeles-based quartet's sound is basically the same as it has always been, only this time, they opt for much more stripped down, simple, bare-bones, and almost punk-like approach than their previous efforts. Ultimately, though, this approach mostly failed, because it is too simple and familiar-sounding for its own good.

Lyrically, this is about as repetitive and uninspired you'll find, and quite frankly, a lot of these lyrics are flat out moronic! Elsewhere, the drums are so basic that they're not worth commenting on, and most of the guitar work is pretty infantile, too. No, Static-X have never been anywhere close to being technical (can you name any "nu-metal" band that is?) but this is simple even for them. A lot of these "riffs" consist of just one or two notes or power chords repeated over and over again for the duration of the song. And what's worse is that they're not even semi-aggressive, chunky, fast, or heavy most of the time! The album's only sonic bite comes from Wayne's abnormally sharp, high-pitched, and in-your-face screams, and even their novelty wears off after only two or three tracks.

To be fair, every song on "Cannibal" is nice and listenable, and there are a few decent or good songs here, even if none of them are actual highlights that stay with the listener for more than a few minutes after hearing them. "Behemoth" sounds like vintage Static-X (circa the "Wisconsin Death Trip" era), whereas the next track, "Chemical Logic," is a thrasher with speedy guitar leads and a noisy, shredding solo. Also of note, "Destroyer" sports a fairly fat bass riff in its chorus; "Forty Ways" is a very hooky toe-tapper which has the potential to be a dance floor hit really soon; and "Goat" is a trippy, synth-driven number. For the most part, though, the songs just ain't there. Several of them (see "No Submission," "Chroma-Matic," "Electric Pulse," and "Goat") would be totally unremarkable if not for loud, moderately cool solos. And then there's "Cannibal" and Reptile," two extremely boring and vapid tracks that practically have "filler"and "waste of time" written all over them.

Am I being too harsh? Maybe. If you listen to "Cannibal" with an open mind without thinking too hard on it, and realize that the band meant it all to be in good fun, you could get quite a bit of enjoyment out of this disc. Even still, it's too hard to escape the feeling of coasting -- Static-X were clearly on complete autopilot when they made this record, and it sounds like they could have recorded it all on the spot in the studio in less than a day. So, in the end, "Cannibal" may be a fun, catchy listen, but it the lacks punch, innovation, urgency, "meat," depth, and good songwriting needed to be at all memorable, satisfying, or powerful. All in all, a highly skippable release for everybody except for the band's absolute most diehard fans.

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