IN REVIEW: Nine Inch Nails - "Add Violence"

No one knew when it was released, but Not the Actual Events (the noisy EP surprise-released just before Christmas '16) was more a prologue than a standalone EP; earlier this year, it was announced that Nine Inch Nails were in the process of releasing a trilogy of EPs, and that Add Violence was the second (the third is expected by the end of the year). Naturally, people would be looking at Add Violence as a continuation of Not the Actual Events' cold, harsh and noisy presentation, especially with that title implying even more brutality.

As it turns out, those really weren't the actual events, so to speak; while there are a few parallels thematically, overall this batch of five songs is much less abrasive than its predecessor, as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross allow for more accessibility in the songs. Lead single Less Than, despite a gradual increase in volume and intensity, is as straightforward and chart-ready as NIN's biggest hits. The Lovers features more of the spoken word passages that pockmarked Not the Actual Events' descent into chaos, but here they accompany a quieter, less intense (albeit subtly unsettling) song. This Isn't the Place, with its two-minute-plus instrumental intro and noisy tendencies pushed to the background, brings back a healthy dose of the orchestral beauty that Reznor threw away on Not the Actual Events.

By the time we get to Not Anymore, we're due for things to boil over a bit, and thus comes the closest thing to the previous EP we're going to get (for now), as the song lets the ugliness back in; the track rides a fuzzy bass and some weird noises to its first chorus, at which point the drums attack and the song goes off the rails sonically and structurally. "I can't seem to wake up," Reznor repeats as the song ends, and it seamlessly falls into the EP's strongest statement.

The Background World starts off dreamlike, with a pulsing kick and some glitchy noise the likes of which were order of the day on Year Zero, which came out ten years ago. "I will keep myself awake," Reznor croons in direct contrast to what came before and, as the track progresses, there's more and more happening along the song's edges, background vocals and noises slowly coming into plain view, surrounding the song's beautiful core. Then, at the four minute mark, the song is taken; a ten second loop is repeated Ad nauseum for the remainder of the song's nearly twelve minute duration, each time a little more distorted, until it's eventually ground into dust. It's the act of violence the EP's title calls for, and it's deeply disturbing yet oddly entrancing.

People have been drawing parallels between Add Violence and Year Zero since the EP's artwork was revealed and, sure enough, there are plenty of references to that world hidden in the imagery; indeed, the events of Add Violence put me in mind of that album more and more as it plays. The way The Background World ends, in that storm of noise, seems to set up a pretty bleak finale later this year. At the end of Not the Actual Events, I felt as though a cathartic artistic purge had taken place. At the end of Add Violence, I feel as though the purge has only begun.

July 21, 2017 • Null
Highlights Less Than • This Isn't the Place • The Background World