Nine Inch Nails - 'Hesitation Marks'

By Neil Sethi

Nine Inch NailsHesitation MarksColumbia

After a five-year hiatus, Trent Reznor has finally returned to work on hismain project Nine Inch Nails, which has been well-anticipated by fans andnon-fans alike.Reznor wasn’t sitting around though; in the interim, he and his friend Atticus Ross scored two original soundtracks, including “The Social Network” (which won an Oscar for Best Soundtrack).Marking Reznor’s return to Nine Inch Nails and industrial rock, Hesitation Marks is intensely reflective, fast-paced, stripped-down and characteristically dark. The familiar elements of self-deprecation still persist, but in a more mature, nostalgic tone than his previous angst-laden projects.“Came Back Haunted” sounds like a track off of Year Zero (2007), while “Everything” sounds like the closest to thing to a radio single Reznor’s ever written. The standout track, “Copy of a,” reflects the things Nine Inch Nails does best in a new way — steady-paced, slow-built electronic (and heavily percussive) beats with vocals intensifying every minute. The album closes subtly, with the instrumental “Black Noise” in a manner almost diametrically opposed to the instrumental opening track “The Eater of Dreams.”Ultimately, Hesitation Marks is a fortunate sign of more (great) things to come from Reznor.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RN6pT3zL44