Add Violence Back Cover...ARG?

[MAD]

some writing in red ink (very worn) on clear tape in a couple of spots on the picture - http://imgur.com/xLU8kmf I haven't been able to figure out what it is, if it's anything at all...

Not sure either.

https://imgur.com/a/utLcu

[Scribbler]

Have those been posted yet?

Another K

http://imgur.com/a/p9PGx

"The Presence" in the end of Less Than video?

http://imgur.com/a/gNZK5

[sick among the pure]

The K blocks are part of the Polybius videogame for PS4 that is used throughout the video. The version in the video is a slightly updated version (the guy who made the game is a NIN fan and when they approached him, he was happy to add Less Than lyrics to the game) running on a PC though.

I have the game (in VR no less, so that I can get *really* indoctrinated) and the K blocks (and ? blocks, and others) are a normal part of the game and probably just coincidental. Now the floating arms seen in the video? Those I have yet to actually encounter in the game...

Since you actually have played the game, mind keeping us up on what parts in the music video (minus the lyrics and NIN logos) you don't see so we know if there's anything hidden in the game footage?

[dyntr]

OK, forgive me if I manage to f*** this u, if the images don't load or if this has already been covered elsewhere... (I don't post here often)...

I was messing around with the NTAE Facebook cover in Photoshop and to my eyes there is a clear 'print' of a hand that echoes the presence;

http://i.imgur.com/nkFx1kz.jpg

https://dyntr.imgur.com/

I'm now wondering if the cover variants relate to different aspects of being in or out/ before or after the effects of the broken machine.

[AnaTorpedo]

Just checking if anyone tried calling (851)220-2022?

I did... both that and the reverse. got a "your number cannot be completed as dialed"

[sheepdean]

Have those been posted yet?

Another K

http://imgur.com/a/p9PGx

"The Presence" in the end of Less Than video?

http://imgur.com/a/gNZK5

That's not a K, that's just a capacitor's top (due to design, they'll always be K, X, or something that easily explodes)

[AnaTorpedo]

Also... the voice at the beginning (and end) of "Dear World," saying "yes, everyone seems to be asleep" is not trent's voice? I mean, it probably is but it's been modded a bit... very robotic sounding. Almost sounds like it was said backwards?

[Indefinite_Cure]

Also... the voice at the beginning (and end) of "Dear World," saying "yes, everyone seems to be asleep" is not trent's voice? I mean, it probably is but it's been modded a bit... very robotic sounding. Almost sounds like it was said backwards?

I always thought there was something fishy about that. Also, I thought it was Atticus's voice maybe...

[AnaTorpedo]

I always thought there was something fishy about that. Also, I thought it was Atticus's voice maybe...

It's something about how he says "asleep".... not to be too cliche haha but it sounds like Twin Peaks Black Lodge type stuff

[izo]

http://i.imgur.com/SuKKmP6.png

Current theory is that EST TERMINATE EVENT number is the Year Zero date but what is the DEVIATION number referencing? Anyone have any theories? I'm stumped.

edit: I see now that people have posted theories it is a zip code. Could it be referencing a particular NIN album instead? A deviation from what we've come to understand. The spines of the albums have catalog numbers on them. http://i.imgur.com/RmkCBDW.png

[nindian]

So... 'Add Violence' is a follow up (or at least nods towards) 'Year Zero', 'Not The Actual Events' uses reappropriated artwork from 'All That Could Have Been / Still' and scatters hidden 'Reptile' lyrics within the 'She's Gone Away' lyrics. 'Hesitation Marks' was both thematically and visually (with Russell Mills involvement) a reflection on The Downward Spiral. 'The Fragile' has been revisited and reformatted into 'Deviations 1'. Oh, and every other NIN release has been given a vinyl reissue, some with "SECRETS INCLUDED".

I got my propaganda
I got revisionism
I got my violence
In hi-def ultra-realism


One can't help but think that this retrospective might be something much, much more than...

[Henrie_Schnee]

Oh, and every other NIN release has been given a vinyl reissue, some with "SECRETS INCLUDED".

For example?

[nindian]

the Broken vinyl description: https://store-uk.nin.com/collections...hi-res-digital

[Haysey_Draws]

For example?

On the NIN store some of the Vinyl Re-issues have this description...

"REMASTERED IN 2016 ON 180GRAM VINYL WITH REMASTERED ARTWORK + SECRETS INCLUDED." - BROKEN RE-ISSUE.

[Theodora]

I remember Trent saying something about watching the show Lost when it used to be on. I have to say the machine in this picture reminds me a lot of the machines in the bunkers they found on the island. It could be nothing but inspiration but still interesting.

[Haysey_Draws]

Some of the descriptions for the Vinyl Re-issues, Broken specifically...

REMASTERED IN 2016 ON 180GRAM VINYL WITH REMASTERED ARTWORK + SECRETS INCLUDED. BROKEN

REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCES IN 2016 ON 180-GRAM VINYL, WITH LOTS OF DETAILS ATTENDED TO THAT YOU MAY NEVER NOTICE BUT WE CARE ABOUT. THE FRAGILE

REMASTERED 2016 AUDIO ON 180GRAM VINYL, REMASTERED ARTWORK AND MORE. THE SLIP

[sheepdean]

Some of the descriptions for the Vinyl Re-issues, Broken specifically...

REMASTERED IN 2016 ON 180GRAM VINYL WITH REMASTERED ARTWORK + SECRETS INCLUDED. BROKEN

REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCES IN 2016 ON 180-GRAM VINYL, WITH LOTS OF DETAILS ATTENDED TO THAT YOU MAY NEVER NOTICE BUT WE CARE ABOUT. THE FRAGILE

REMASTERED 2016 AUDIO ON 180GRAM VINYL, REMASTERED ARTWORK AND MORE. THE SLIP

Broken's "secrets" is the 7"
Fragile is going to be neat little musical fixes
The Slip's I'm just gonna assume is the DVD

[paul_guyet]

The hand coming out of the TV in LESS THAN could be a reference to the Presence...or it could be a nod to Videodrome.

"All hail the new flesh."

So... 'Add Violence' is a follow up (or at least nods towards) 'Year Zero', 'Not The Actual Events' uses reappropriated artwork from 'All That Could Have Been / Still' and scatters hidden 'Reptile' lyrics within the 'She's Gone Away' lyrics. 'Hesitation Marks' was both thematically and visually (with Russell Mills involvement) a reflection on The Downward Spiral. 'The Fragile' has been revisited and reformatted into 'Deviations 1'. Oh, and every other NIN release has been given a vinyl reissue, some with "SECRETS INCLUDED".

The art for BYIT contained a clue for the first ARG, wouldn't be surprised if these other releases fed into this one.

[alfonso99]

I remember Trent saying something about watching the show Lost when it used to be on. I have to say the machine in this picture reminds me a lot of the machines in the bunkers they found on the island. It could be nothing but inspiration but still interesting.

i was thinking the same. Where have you been my brother from another mother?!?!?!?!

[Theodora]

i was thinking the same. Where have you been my brother from another mother?!?!?!?!

Hahaha more like sister from another mister

[LiquidEngineer]

I remember Trent saying something about watching the show Lost when it used to be on. I have to say the machine in this picture reminds me a lot of the machines in the bunkers they found on the island. It could be nothing but inspiration but still interesting.

Great. Now I need to re watch Lost. Thanks. I had no idea how much you hated me.

[Ruined]

Have those been posted yet?

Another K

http://imgur.com/a/p9PGx

"The Presence" in the end of Less Than video?

http://imgur.com/a/gNZK5

Initially, I thought that hand pulling from the screen was an homage to Cronenberg's "Videodrome." But, given this new ARG, The Presence is definitely feasible.

[Toadflax]

I think we really need to start thinking in those terms. To quote Kevin Costner from JFK 'Were through the looking glass here people, white is black and black is white'' I instantly thought of lost when I saw that cover. I am going to go dig around season five as I suspect the themes of season five are similar to what we are looking at here.

All the black is really white... if you believe it.

[Xvostya]

Hm... "K"?

[vincenzomilione]

Curious to see if there are any clues in the "Less Than" video, in addition to the physical component for Add Violence.

the video showed a hand reaching out of the television twice throughout, which i at first rejected as the presence, instead assuming it was a reference to the "soul eating" game; now i see how the hand could be a double entendre, and could also represent the presence.

[alfonso99]

Hahaha more like sister from another mister

ha ha ha. you're right!

[Xvostya]

Curious to see if there are any clues in the "Less Than" video, in addition to the physical component for Add Violence.

TV brand ducttaped with same black tape as on the back cover?

[Graceless]

I am sure that the meter readings for Presence, Apperception and Satisfaction mean something, either apart or together. Maybe a phone number, or latitude and longitude for a location... Hopefully we get more clues that help make sense out of it.

[vincenzomilione]

This is one of NIN greatest artwork... Such a shame it's the back cover, and not the actual front cover.
It's so much better than the cropped version.

i agree, i would enjoy the artwork a lot more if the front and back were reversed.

[Xvostya]

Regarding the 'Add Violence' physical component, upping the contrast on the back cover image reveals the red component tucked away to the bottom right of the machine to be a booklet... maybe a manual of some kind or a kind of Year Zero Anarchist Cookbook-type thing?! That or maybe Laura Palmer's diary!

Journal in red?