Nine Inch Nails "Year Zero" Review

Nine Inch Nails is changing. Our comforting source of articulated rage therapy has chosen a different angle of attack.

Trent Reznor reached the final introspective dead end with 2005's 'With Teeth'. That album was a satisfying, well written collection of tunes that rocked exactly enough to meet the quota. Meeting fan (including myself) expectations does not necessarily make for an enduring piece of art, though.

'Year Zero' arrives exactly 2 years after 'With Teeth'. Reznor has not given himself time to overthink it. With a newfound self confidence and maturity(the result of personal growth, hitting 40, or both), he's trusting his instincts, instead of crushing them with thousands of overdubbed layers of self disguist.

Articulated rage has turned to pointed criticism, cultural observation, and even satire. "Don't give a shit about the temperature in Guata-mo-la", opines the narrator of Capitol G.

As the album flows from song to song, rhythms, melodies, and themes carry over, forming a single shape shifting entity. The lyrics are from 16 different societal perspectives, smashed together into one digitally distorted burst transmission. From the future.

Yes, that's right. The future. We're in sci-fi concept album territory here. Or, "One possible future...", as Kyle Reese put it in 'The Terminator'.

"Year Zero" is singular in form, individual songs benefitting from the context of their companions. While there is no true hit-you-on-the-first-listen single to be found, many tracks will have you involuntarily leaping out of your chair in rhythmic contortions.

The overloaded zapping snares of "Vessel" are like Trent sticking his tongue on the end of your stereo cable, just for kicks. "The Great Destroyer" breaks down as it's MIDI sequence is dropped into a puddle of battery acid. After "The Downward Spiral"s violent barrage, and "The Fragile"s hot needle loaded with a fatal speedball, Trent is directly applying shock therapy to the masses.

The will written and convincing websites (compiled here
http://www.echoingthesound.org/phpbbx/viewtopic.php?t=20265&start=0 ) are a respectable modern update of dystopian futures that began with 1984. They aren't exactly mindblowing, but are a cut above any other supplementary album release material I've ever seen, and well worth the time for those willing to seak them out. As you listen to the album, though, they don't feel directly connected. The sound collage is the primary focus on the record. Trent's vocal tones, ranging from hopeful to sarcastic to whimsical to doped out, as per the perspective of the song, makes for a completely different experience than browsing these websites, where you play the character of the person looking at these digitally distorted internet pages from 15 years in the future. The album isn't Trent as distant narrator; he's changing roles every song, which makes for a unique listening experience compared to other NIN and other music in general. This is a new and different way of approaching the 'concept album', and it works.