This is the exact kind of experimental stuff I've wanted from them for years. Hearing Trent and Atticus pushing their boundaries and exploring what they can do with sound is all I hope for with new NIN and this does that amazingly. All the best NIN material has come from Trent & Co. trying new things, taking risks, and seeing what wild stuff they can make happen in the studio, and this feels like they tapped back into that headspace. A lot of people are going to totally hate this and that's a good thing -- it's daring and fresh and surprising and manages to feel challenging despite almost no music from mainstream artists feeling challenging nowadays. At times it feels like if the Quake soundtrack fucked Lost Highway behind the back half of The Fragile. This is the first NIN album since their scoring career began where I feel like it was heavily influenced by their experiences scoring films, and I mean that in the best way possible. A lot of instruments remind me of Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl specifically and those are atmospherically my favorite scores so it's a good thing.
I'm Not From This World feels like if they scored a Silent Hill game. Over and Out is begging for a crazy live arrangement. His vocals are the most Bowie-esque they've ever been and it's wonderful, it feels less like an affectation and more like him exploring a side he's never dived into. It reminds me a lot of Background World at points and the overall album still feels connected to AV and NTAE, this feels like the dark and crazy thing that NTAE and AV are both reactions to. The fact that it almost ends blissfully is even more unsettling and nightmarish, like this dazed acceptance of everything being ruined.
I'm going to listen to this to death this summer.
I'm waiting til Friday for a listen, but reading all the comments here makes me even more excited than I was before!!!
For once it really is a happy Monday.
Just finished my first listen through- loved it. Very dense and layered. There's a lot going on in each track! Hard to tell which is my favorite yet. 'Over and Out' is pretty damn great, though.
I just got extraordinarily high with headphones, eyes closed and listened to NTAE, AV and BW. Bad Witch is unreal in the attention to detail.
one of Trent’s finest. Early feel is a strong 4.5/5.
This trilogy overall is beautiful and engaging.
I've listened to this twice and I'm absolutely blown away. What I love about it so much is that this sounds so distinct from any other Nine Inch Nails. I can't easily draw similarities to his other work. It sounds fresh and new, but it sounds like NIN more than anything he's put out in the past decade. There's even some faint elements of proper industrial scattered around, moreso than anything I've heard since mid-90's NIN. It hits so many notes, it's harsh, angry, uneasy, loud, weird, and beautiful. I could say that this is my favorite of the three EP's, but really this is some of my favorite post-Fragile Nine Inch Nails I've ever heard.
I've heard from some people saying how this may be the closure of Nine Inch Nails. Whether that's true or not, for me I would be totally content with this as a finale.
Jesus.
This was something else.
Trying to avoid all leaks, waiting for official download emails!
Wow, thanks to the kind folks here for sharing this masterpiece. Just, damn, I love Bad Witch.
Play The Goddamn Part is giving me cold chills every time
Please let them do a live jam out of this kind of like LITS Ghosts songs
Mm, it's a bit weird. The more I listen BW, more like it. Add Violence was insuperable, but this possibily goes beyond, maybe more ripe. It plays with multi-textures constantly, so I would recommend listen it with headphones. BW is similar to The Slipe and Ghosts. I always thought that TS was a good job without polishing; but I'll say BW has been polished. Some parts remind me The Perfect Drug, Memorabilia, Quake OST, etc. and of course Bowie, so it is very diverse. Time will say the position of this album, but for now I think it's a perfect ending to the trilogy (Over and Out finishes the album masterfully).
I can't fucking believe how good this is. Un-fucking-real.
So that's definitely Peter Murphy on Over and Out, right?
So, after a couple of listens to BW I think I can say that for me this trilogy is as good as The Fragile or The Downward Spiral. Top notch production, super intersting and relevant lyrics, lots of experimentation and good performances. I can't believe that a band that started 30 years ago is still making music like this.
I ran home during lunch and downloaded it, but held off on listening to it so that I can give the album my full attention tonight.
I’m off work in about an hour. The suspense is killing me.
I’m going to pour myself a very tall beverage, dim the lights, and listen to this through some good headphones.
Can’t wait!
BTW these songs demand to be heard live! I hope we get most (I wouldn't mind all) of them during the upcoming tour. I cannot wait!
I still feel like it could have used a few more songs. That's not a knock against what songs are there, and I know NIN camp considers it an album, and that's all good, buuuuuuut an even 10 tracks would have really put this way up in my favorites list. Still, all the songs are quality, so I'm not really gonna complain too much.
Buuuuuuuuut a few more songs would have been really special.
Just finished my 2nd listen. Holy fuck this is good. The instrumentals are the best they've done in a while, including the soundtracks, so I'm happy with them. I love the way Over & Out fades away at the end of the album.
It's a dense wall of sound, and it's wonderful.
The way they twist that "Goddamned time" echo at 1:26 on Shit Mirror into these insane directions - goosebumps. Shit. So much attention to tiny details.
Don't even think about listening to this without a decent pair.