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Nine Inch Nails imagines the future

Trent Reznor's grim vision adds a new level of interest to NIN's fifth studio album

By Shane Harrison for Atlanta Journal-Constitution on April 22, 2007

The New Nine Inch Nails album is a futuristic work that posits an ugly future, but you might not realize that it all hangs on a concept unless you're briefed on it before listening. It doesn't really matter, though, because you'd still get the atmosphere of dread from the music. Trent Reznor -- the guy behind NIN -- is a master at making electronic squalls, roars and rumbles both tuneful and terrifying.

The serpentine bass and guitar that squirm through "The Warning" would sound scary even if you couldn't make out that a visitor from the sky is berating someone -- presumably human beings -- for "your greed, self-importance and your arrogance." Then they threaten to "wipe this place clean."

Take or leave the concept, but it does add a new level of interest for those who feel Reznor's been preaching to his choir in recent years -- and much of this dystopian vision doesn't seem so futuristic.

-- Shane Harrison, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Transcribed by JessicaSarahS

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