Nine Inch Nails The Slip Review
New NIN Digital Download Hammers Another Nail into Industry's Coffin
Hot on the heels of Ghosts I-IV, Nine Inch Nails release another free album download, The Slip.
When thousands of fans downloaded the new Nine Inch Nails free single “Discipline” the band hinted that a new album would soon follow. On May 5, the industrial electronic band released The Slip, a new free download full-length album of material from one of this year’s most prolific bands.
The Slip easily divides into 2 parts. The first half of the album contains classic hard-edged industrial electronica whereas the second half bridges the gap between the old and the new with minimalist soundscapes and tender instrumentals similar to material found on Ghosts I-IV.
The Slip Frees Trapped Ghosts
Lead track, the instrumental "999,999", draws the listener down a slow moving somber path reminiscent of Ghosts I-IV and hints at the end of the disc before the heavy drums and loud guitar of “1,000,000” turns things around.
Full of noise and hard hitting beats, The Slip contains all the elements of classic Nine Inch Nails. “Letting You” brings an urgent fast-paced thrill ride complete with distorted noise and shouting from Reznor.
“Discipline”, the first single from the album has radio-friendly lyrics, danceable beats and an urgent plea for help. Stand out track “Echoplex” echoes feelings of loneliness but casts a ray of hope. “I built this place with broken parts”, Reznor sings over pulsing guitars and an electronic beat sounding both intimate and detached.
Locking himself away in the studio for the last couple of months seems to have added a new dimension of gloominess to the band. “Head Down”, another standout track about reflecting, builds around muffled noise and a harder buzz guitar. “This is not my face, and this is not my life and there is not a single thing here I can recognize”.
The Four of Us Are Dying
“Lights in the Sky”, a dark, moody whispered piano ballad could have sat center stage on either of the Ghosts albums. The song sounds more like a confession when compared to the louder walls of sound heard in the first half of the album on tracks like “1,000,000” and “Letting You”.
Not all songs on the album contain lyrics, “Corona Radiata” an ethereal soundscape conjures feelings of loneliness on a desert plain.
The minimalism continues on “The Four of Us Are Dying”. This nocturnal epic creeps along like a brooding dream. Nine Inch Nails called Ghosts I-IV music for daydreaming, “The Four of Us Are Dying” is music for nighttime dreaming…with one eye open.
Closing track “Demon Seed” draws both halves together, integrating the aggression felt on earlier tracks while striping it down mid way to an unobtrusive soundscape before ending the track off with a bottled chant.
While uneven, the album doesn’t fail to satisfy. Fans of Nine Inch Nails have been waiting for this album and as a thank you for their support, Trent Rezner and the rest of the band deliver.
Some argue that you get what you pay for. In the case of Nine Inch Nails, the best things in life are free.
The Slip is available in multiple formats from the band’s website. A physical release is scheduled for July.
