A dominant power within the music trade, Trent Reznor has earned the posh of time. As such, followers by no means know what they’re going to get with a 9 Inch Nails launch. Or, certainly, when they’ll get it. The Not The Precise Occasions EP is testomony to that place in each method.
An end-of-year present
Contemplating the five-year hiatus Reznor took from 9 Inch Nails after the discharge of 2008’s The Slip, December 2015 appeared extremely early to tease that “Nine Inch Nails will return in 2016.” However when Reznor will get the itch, he tends to scratch it.
Purchase Not The Precise Occasions on vinyl.
The truth is, followers had been spoiled with a run of frequent EPs since NIN’s 2013 album, Hesitation Marks. However as December 2016 rolled round, they seen there nonetheless hadn’t been any NIN exercise that 12 months. Reznor addressed the problem, saying, “Those words did come out of my mouth, didn’t they?… Just wait and see what happens.” Then, three days later, on December 22, he confirmed the discharge of Not The Precise Occasions. The primary of what was on account of be a trilogy of EPs, and the group’s first EP of unique materials since 1992’s Damaged, Reznor instantly made it obtainable to obtain with vinyl pre-orders on nin.com, earlier than giving it a wider digital launch the next day.
A back-to-basics set of songs
Reznor’s relationship with Atticus Ross was solidified when the long-standing producer and musical collaborator was made a everlasting member of 9 Inch Nails upon Not The Precise Occasions’ launch. They created what the primary man described as “an unfriendly, fairly impenetrable record that we needed to make,” and, for a lot of followers, its sound harked again to NIN at their abrasive finest: the aforementioned Damaged, the darkish self-reflection of The Downward Spiral and the expansive constructs of The Fragile. And whereas that’s true partially, the band’s traditional parts are refracted by means of the lens of all the things Reznor had realized as an artist, songwriter, producer, and movie rating composer within the interim.
9 Inch Nails compositions exist as a lot as an exploration of probably the most disturbing aspects of the human psyche as they do as songs. The bass- and snare-heavy opener, “Branches/Bones,” fizzes and pops with results whereas its scything guitars underpin a refrain of Reznor taunting, “Feels like I’ve been here before,” because the observe abruptly cuts off simply shy of the two-minute mark. It showcases his skills as darkish synth-pop maestro greater than an industrial rock overlord, earlier than segueing into the synth-heavy “Dear World,” which bubbles away with out providing a change of tempo.
An epic affair
The truth is, it’s not till the awful, mechanical “She’s Gone Away” that Reznor will get near the hostile soundscapes he hinted at previous to the EP’s launch; not that NIN followers discover them significantly disturbing – they’re the band’s inventory in commerce. However the brash industrialism of “The Idea Of You” satisfyingly remembers the thrusting belligerence of The Downward Spiral. With its off-key drone, “Burning Bright (Field On Fire)” ventures into the gothic post-punk territory of My Bloody Valentine, earlier than bursting right into a flurry of wailing guitar strings.
After almost 30 years and eight albums, every pushing the boundaries of post-industrial rock, Not The Precise Occasions proved that Reznor nonetheless had a lot extra to supply. Whereas he wasn’t fairly the grasp of innovation he had been, he nonetheless remained able to delivering crowd-pleasing, industrialized, brooding synth-rock. And although Not The Precise Occasions stands at 5 tracks and little greater than 21 minutes, it performs like a completely extra epic affair, leaving no fan feeling short-changed.
Purchase Not The Precise Occasions on vinyl.
