Nine Inch Nails - "Bad Witch"

Nine Inch Nails is the long time Industrial Metal project of Mr. Trent Reznor, and if you didn't know, my favorite band.  Trent under the Nine Inch Nails name has done it all, tortured us with "The Downward Spiral", gave one of the most genuinely terrifying future predictions on "Year Zero", and released other countless classic Metal albums.  "The Fragile", "Pretty Hate Machine", they're all good.  But the 2000's has been a little less flawless to say the least when it comes to Trent's output.  There was the polarizing "With_Teeth", which honestly has grown on me a lot over the years, and "The Slip" and "Hesitation Marks" which more often then not I forget even exist.  But It was with the early 2017 EP "Not The Actual Events" that Trent really started revving my engines again.  This EP was almost too solid for it's own good, especially in 2018.  From the gritty "She's Gone Away" to the monolithic and epic "Burning Bright (Field On Fire)", this album was the heaviest and darkest the band had sounded since the late 90's.  The legends returned later that year with yet another EP, "Add Violence".  This EP was significantly cleaner and not nearly as grungy, as well as much more Synth heavy.  And to be honest, this EP has sort of lessened on me since I first heard it.  But it's still a solid reminder that NIN Have plenty more in the tank. Now, I was expecting to hear a lot of things on this new NIN project.  But from the sounds of this teaser track, this may be the most left-field and genuinely experimental stuff that Trent has given us in years.  I'm ecstatic to chat about this one folks, let's not waste any more time. 

(A personal favorite of mine!)

This album, yes, ALBUM starts off with “Shit Mirror”.  And let me tell you, this is exactly what I wanted to hear.  This track is an intense, gritty industrial rocker.  This actually reminds me a whole lot of what we heard on “Not the Actual Events”.  But it’s taken a step further.  Trent sounds absolutely tortured on vocals, and I can’t help but love the very instantaneous feel of this.  This doesn’t feel like it took Trent forever to perfect, this just sounds like a surprisingly live take.  It’s upbeat, aggressive, and I love just how murky and muddy it is.  And while Trent repeats over and over “New world, new times”, this is far from new ground for Nine Inch Nails.  It’s gritty, heavy, and honestly right where the band should be right about now.  The very “off-the-rails” feel of this album continues in a big way with “Ahead of Ourselves”, another very intense track.  The authenticity of this track is stunning within itself, and in a way almost reminds me of the material on “Broken” from way back when.  These very winding verses lead up to an incredibly abrasive chorus, while still sort of remaining on the melodic side.  Now, if you know Trent then you probably know his lyrical style.  And to be honest, things haven’t changed that much.  The chorus here is so hypnotic, and Trent doesn’t sound like he’s desperate for attention which is nice.  So far this album is wild.  On the other hand “Play the Goddamned Part” is a bizarre, sort of Experimental piece.  But instantly it’s just so ear-grabbing.  There’s this lumbering bass line and the production is super muddy, all while this very mysterious Sax goes on and on.  It’s just so mysterious and genuinely hard to place and to call this hypnotic would be an understatement.  I’m totally digging it though, and I would absolutely rather listen to this than whatever Trent was going for on the finale to “Add Violence”.  Not to mention, I love just how raw this album continues to come off.  This doesn’t sound like a well-produced Metal album, I haven’t heard Trent this “in the moment” in years.  And while yea, “Play the Goddamned Part” isn’t going to get your blood pumping, it’s intriguing. 

That last track really ushers in “God Break Down the Door” really nicely.  This track continues with this “anything goes” mentality, but it adds in an element we haven’t heard yet.  That’s right, the ol’ Synthesizer.   So far, this album has been pretty heavy and I haven’t heard a bloop or a blip in the muddiness.  But here, they come off completely refreshing.  And to be honest, I can’t remember a single time that I’ve heard them come off this intense and off the rails.  So no, I really can’t be mad.  Trent’s performance here continues to be commanding and hypnotic. But to be honest, a whole lot of this track is just as hypnotic.  From the soothing, repeated vocals to the very Avant-Garde feel to everything else going on in the background.  This is one wild tune, and more than anything just shows that Trent hasn’t been sitting around twiddling his thumbs, he has plenty more to give.  Now, “I’m Not From This World” may be my least favorite track here.  But to be honest, this one really isn’t bad at all.  I love how genuinely dangerous this intro is and how this one creeps along.  Listening to this, I feel like I’m traveling in some catacombs or watching one of those legitimately creepy videos from “Sinister”.  It’s a chilling sound that reminds us just how much of a master of soundly Trent is.  There was a time where Trent was one of few people I never worried about as far as instrumental interludes go.  But this is different, this is over 6-minutes.  But I’ll be honest, it does it’s job and gets me all sorts of hyped for whatever final is coming our way.  A genuinely terrifying atmosphere, pouring drums, twisted synths, murky production, what else can you ask for?   Now, “I’m Not From This World” pumps you up big time for “Over and Out”, and this is honestly not the finale I was expecting.  But I mean that in the best way, this is a wonderful surprise.  This is a much more futuristic, synth-heavy jam that would have been very comfortable on “Year Zero”.  It’s very cold and has the same dystopian vibes that Nine Inch Nails master years ago.  There are just so many good ideas here, between the groove which are totally welcomed after just how heavy the first track was, to the almost comforting atmosphere of the later moments.  And as far as a vocal performance goes, I really don’t think that Trent has sounded better on this entire EP, and I mean that.  He ends up bringing in a very human aspect to this wasteland of a finale.  It’s something that I wasn’t expecting to hear, but almost nothing about this album is what it should be, especially not this far into Trent’s career.  “Over and Out” is oddly emotional, and a truly awesome finale. 

Rating: 8.2/10

Give A Listen To: “Shit Mirror”, “Ahead of Ourselves”, “God Break Down the Door”,  “Over an Out”

Least Favorite Track:  “I’m Not From This World” (But even THAT isn’t terrible)

Genre: Industrial / Experimental Metal

Overall Thoughts:  Going into this short project, I feel like all bets were off with Nine Inch Nails.  I had no idea if this was supposed to be an album or an EP, or what even this album was going to sound like with just how radically different the last two Nine Inch Nails EP’s were.  So first, the obvious, yes this is an album.  And more than that, it certainly feels like one.  But I feel like this may just be the most organic and raw NIN projects in a very long time.  Nothing about this album seems forced or ridiculously produced.  No, like Trent said in the interview he revealed this project with, this sounds like it just sort of “came to him”.  Now, for whatever era of Nine Inch Nails is your favorite, you’re probably going to hear that sound here.  Whether it be the intensity and muddiness of “Shit Mirror”, the out of control synths of “God Break Down the Door”, or the surprisingly emotional “Over and Out”, this is an awesome sampling of all of Trent’s sounds.   My only real issue is, and I hate being that guy, but I wish this was longer.  This doesn’t feel like an EP, it feels like an album, one that only would have gotten more intriguing with more material.  That being said, this is easily the best thing Trent and company have done in years.