Album Review: How To Destroy Angels - 'An omen EP'

How To Destroy Angels, the main focus of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross when they are not winning Academy Awards, have released their newest EP, ‘An omen,’ the precursor to the first full length due next year on which some of these tracks will feature.

Because of the people involved we already know that this EP will be sonically amazing, and it is, but many Reznor fans will be excited to hear that the influences of his most well known project, Nine Inch Nails, are far more present in these songs than on the first EP release. A good example of this is opening track 'Keep It Together', which is full of the electronic stutter beats and big dirty bass lines that will be instantly recognisable as Reznor’s work. The vocals of Mariqueen Maandig, Reznor’s wife, float hauntingly over the top with the man himself offering some voice in support every now and then.

The landscapes of the EP, no doubt the production team’s strengths, are the main highlight, with a very tense and spooky mood set through all of the songs, the exception being the bright and plucky 'Ice Age', which warns us, over seven minutes, never to think we know to expect from this group.

The drum programming, another Reznor strength is additional highlight, especially on tracks like the beat led 'On The Wing' or the weird electronic bleeps of 'The Loop Closes.' This weird use of synthesisers that sound almost tortured continue into the ambient but powerful closer 'Speaking In Tongues', which dials the creepiness up to eleven and wishes you a terrible night’s sleep, in a good way.

It would be no surprise if ‘An omen’ is favoured over How To Destroy Angels debut self titled EP as it features both sounds and styles that Reznor fans will know and love while also pushing the musical boundaries of the group even further once again. This is a good taste of what will no doubt be an excellent full length next year.

1. Keep It Together

2. Ice Age

3. On the Wing

4. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

5. The Loop Closes

6. Speaking in Tongues