Mephisto Odyssey set Dec 31 release for ‘CRASH: Reborn’, featuring previously unheard Wayne Static vocal takes and guitars by Brad Gillis
Mephisto Odyssey set Dec 31 release for 'CRASH: Reborn', featuring previously unheard Wayne Static vocal takes and guitars by Brad Gillis
The San Francisco-based industrial rock / electronic act Mephisto Odyssey will release “CRASH: Reborn” on December 31, 2025 as a rebuilt 25th-anniversary version of their 2000 track “Crash,” first known from the “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” soundtrack. The new edition uses previously unreleased vocal stems by the late Wayne Static (Static-X) and adds new guitar parts by Brad Gillis, known for his work with Night Ranger and Ozzy Osbourne.
Rather than a remix, Johnston reconstructed the entire song, retaining Static’s original performance while steering the track into heavier industrial and electronic territory. The single arrives with a new 4K video that expands the Batman/Joker visual lineage through a mix of noir, dystopian, and comic-influenced imagery.
Mephisto Odyssey’s “CRASH: Reborn” will be available first on Bandcamp, alongside the video premiere, with wider digital distribution to follow in early 2026. Here is a teaser for the new video.
About Mephisto Odyssey
Mephisto Odyssey formed in San Francisco in the early 1990s as an electronic and industrial crossover project led by Mikael Johnston. The group developed an early presence in the Bay Area electronic scene before signing to City of Angels and later to Warner Bros. Records.
During the Warner period, the band produced “Crash,” which got included on the “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” soundtrack through a Humble Brothers remix used in promotional materials. Over the years, Mephisto Odyssey’s catalogue has spanned electronica, industrial rock, and soundtrack-focused work. Johnston remains the driving force behind the current output and oversees production, mixing, and conceptual direction.
About Static-X
Static-X, the American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California, was formed in 1994 by Wayne Static and original drummer Ken Jay. They rose to fame with their 1999 debut album “Wisconsin Death Trip” featuring a heavy industrial metal sound.
The band released five more albums over the course of the next decade: “Machine” in 2001, “Shadow Zone” in 2003, “Start a War” in 2005, “Cannibal” in 2007, and “Cult of Static” in 2009. The band entered a hiatus while Static worked on his solo album, “Pighammer”, in 2011. Static briefly reformed Static-X in 2012, using only members of his solo album’s touring band, before officially breaking up in June 2013.
On November 1, 2014, Wayne Static died at the age of 48.
That could have meant the end of the band, but the rest of the original Static-X lineup – bassist Tony Campos, guitarist Koichi Fukuda and drummer Ken Jay – announced on October 23, 2018 that they were reforming the band in Static’s honor, and would release their first studio album in eleven years in 2020.
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