Nine Inch Nails – Add Violence
(The Null Corporation)
Reviewed by Bridget Herlihy.
2017 is shaping up to be a very good year for Nine Inch Nails, with NIN mastermind Trent Reznor promising two major releases from the bank in 2017, as well as embarking on their first tour in two years. The first of these releases is the EP Add Violence; five tracks of pure, unadulterated electronic industrial-laced rock at its finest.
In the days leading up to its release the band’s social media sites was brimming with strong opinions regarding Trent Reznor’s latest sonic offering. Several loud ‘voices’ proclaimed from their virtual soapboxes proclaiming that Reznor was “over” when he got sober and happy. Another proclaimed that as he had gotten older he had become “boring”. While everybody is entitled to their own opinion, whether it be overwhelmingly ignorant and blinkered or not, one thing that Trent Reznor could never be accused of is being boring, with Add Violence a testament to his being able to continue to push boundaries while creating the most beautifully textured, auralgasmic electronic soundscapes.
Opening track Less Than is the antithesis of boring. It packs a sonic punch; a driving track with an undercurrent of ferocity masterfully harmonized with melody, and would have to be, in this reviewer’s opinion, one of my favourite NIN tracks of all time. Echoing the electronica of the band’s last full length album Hesitation Marks that was released in 2013, Less Than is heavy with retro-inspired synths. Whereas Reznor had intended for 2016’s Not The Actual Events EP to be “unfriendly and inaccessible”, recalling the darker and heavier moments of The Downward Spiral, Add Violence has greater warmth to it.
The superb Less Than gives way to one of the more subdued tracks of the EP, The Lovers, which begins with 80s Atari-inspired synth beats over a bed of spoken words from Reznor. The chorus of “Take me/into the arms of the lovers” is sung with an almost mournful longing. Third track This Isn’t The Place is a relatively mellow and sprawling track, the first half a rich soundscape encompassing a simple tune played on piano with accompanying beats and vocals that are at times barely above a loud whisper as Reznor laments “I thought we had more time”. Not Anymore sees is an interesting track, with verses that are almost (robotic) until the chorus kicks in with a beat twice as fast and twice as heavy. At almost twelve minutes in duration, final track The Background World has confused some; another synth-heavy track, that kicks in with a seductive beat, which in turn gives way to a ten second instrumental that abruptly loops as if it was a cd or vinyl skipping. The same loop repeats over and over for almost eight minutes; with each repeat the underlying distortion becomes increasingly evident until all that remains is static and noise, an interesting composition that brings forth the question of whether this track could possibly be a metaphor for humankind’s current predicament as Reznor asks “are you sure/ this is what you want?”.
One of the most attractive qualities of Reznor’s work is that there is always an element of surprise; each album or EP has a distinct feel, a unique attitude. Is Add Violence intended to make a statement about today’s current state of political affairs? Perhaps. But if this is an example of Trent Reznor getting “old”, I’ll take it.
