Descend Into Disorder With Nine Inch Nails and 'Bad Witch'

Today marks the release of the final volume in the trilogy from original industrial angst-er’s Nine Inch Nails, Bad Witch, following 2016’s Not The Actual Events and 2017’s Add Violence.

Still containing all the aggression and alienation that resonates with so many (particularly in a Trump-America), the album is markedly restrained and offers listener’s a fully immersive experience.

Ominous lines over a kaleidoscope of synths, saxophone and drums, the offering consists of six tracks, opening fast and loud with Shit Mirror before the bombardment of Ahead Of Ourselves, Play The Goddamned Part and single God Break Down The Door, each track bringing its own definition of disorder.

Pockets of silence in I’m Not From This World allow for moments of clarity before the lolling throb of the heart kicks back in. On closer Over And Out, frontman Trent Reznor croons Bowie-esque “time is running out, I don’t know what I’m waiting for,” in a twisted dance between idealism and hopelessness.

Speaking about the trilogy, Reznor dug into the past saying “there’s a sense of self-referential on these albums”.

“And a new kind of aggression.”

He and long-time writing partner Atticus Ross hadn’t made a record in over three years when they entered the studio back in 2016, but it soon became apparent another epic saga was in the works.

The subject matter is heavy and when reflecting on the philosophical inspiration behind the collection, Reznor muses about “an internal fantasy of, what if I lit a match to my life and just embraced burning the whole fucking thing down”.

The resulting sounds are everything and nothing you expect them to be.

Check it out below. 

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