Hesitation Marks
Columbia/Sony
The recent revival of Nine Inch Nails, after Trent Reznor announced in 2009 that it was “time to make NIN disappear for a while”, had NINcompoops around the globe gleefully perma-stretching their smiles in anticipation for Hesitation Marks.
The paranoia-inducing soundscape of opening track, The Eater Of Dreams, instantly straps you in for the emotional rollercoaster ride ahead – and keep in mind, like any good NIN album, Hesitation Marks should be best enjoyed like watching a horror film for the first time: with the lights off (and probably not just before bedtime).
Pay close attention to Copy Of A and Find My Way, and notice that something isn’t quite right. The musical composition and lyrical content is a 25-year amalgamation of tormented soul-searching and self-psychoanalysis; Trent ‘Music Is My Psych’ Reznor seems to pay a final visit to his therapist in this beautifully nihilistic sonic diary. Stick around to the end for While I’m Still Here – a beautiful goodbye for NIN’s finest work since 1994’s The Downward Spiral.
_ FABIAN MALABELLO
