Industrial metal band Static-X have released the new song “Stay Alive.” The track appears on the band’s upcoming Project Regeneration: Vol. 2 album and features vocals from late frontman Wayne Static.
“Stay Alive” is one of the final original songs Wayne was working on before his passing. In fact, in a release, the group’s former sound engineer Eddie Ortel says, “Wayne was working on this track the night that he passed away.”
An accompanying music video can be disturbing to some, as it features unreleased footage from Wayne’s “Assassins of Youth” video that shows him engaging in drug use that would eventually lead to his early death. Wayne passed away on November 1st, 2014, at the age of 48.
In the song, Wayne sings of the hardships of being a “professional addict” with the cry, “I just need you to survive! Cut you up to stay alive!” Along with Wayne on lead vocals, the song features the original Wisconsin Death Trip lineup of Tony Campos, Koichi Fukuda, and Ken Jay. Dope frontman Edsel Dope co-directed the video with Matt Zane.
“We knew that if we were going to release this song, we wouldn’t be able to tip toe around this tragic subject,” Campos said in a statement. “The first draft of the video was really hard for all of us to watch, so we ended up removing many of the more graphic scenes. As dark as this piece of art may be, it is also a very honest representation of where Wayne was at during this controversial time. My hope is that when people see this, that they understand the cautionary tale that Wayne’s life ultimately became and can avoid some of those pitfalls.”
Aimee Pittman, Wayne’s younger sister, added, “We always want to remember Wayne as the intelligent, funny, Star Trek loving, rock star. It makes his family sad and angry to see Wayne depicting himself in a way that we understand to be a realistic portrayal of his life and the choices that ultimately ended it. If one person watching this video can benefit or make better choices related to drugs and alcohol, then we are grateful for the reminder.”
“Stay Alive” follows a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Terrible Lie,” which was released earlier this year as the first single from Project Regeneration: Vol. 2.
Static-X, who currently perform with enigmatic frontman Xer0, will be heading out “The Machine Killer” tour with co-headliners Sevendust and special guest Dope. The outing kicks off October 6th in Houston, with tickets available here.
Project Regeneration: Vol. 2 arrives November 3rd, and is available for pre-order here. Watch the video for “Stay Alive” below.
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