Guest Album Review: Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

Hesitation Marks

Nine Inch Nails

Release date: 30th August 2013

Available to stream on Spotify - see Spotify player below

Thanks for this guest review go to Jon Hall.

When I studied a module called ‘Creative Non-fiction’ at university I was lectured by a musicologist and journalist. I can’t remember his name but I remember he’d just published a book about Hip Hop which was funny because he was a soft spoken, middle-aged academic with an extensive vinyl collection, a taste for art and a pet cat. But why should Hip Hop be closed off to him? He told us that the judgements and misconceptions we have about music hold us back and he lamented the modern album review. All it does he said, is draws meaningless connections and makes unnecessary judgements. Although context is important the meat of a review should surely be concerned with exploring the texture of a recorded landscape. I agreed with him and for my assignment I produced a creative description of the textures of ‘King of Limbs’ by Radiohead. My second Textural Review (below) is of ‘Hesitation Marks’ by Nine Inch Nails. There are some connections between the two records which shouldn’t be ignored. Both are dense landscapes. KOL is an autumn forest and HM is a Ballardian Hell and whether Reznor intended this or not, there is an echo of Thom Yorke’s later work in ‘Hesitation Marks.’ Particularly Yorke’s work with Atoms For Peace but the fact they contain similar sounds is not important. What I want to draw your attention to is the image evoked by the name Atoms for Peace. The atomic bomb, the ultimate symbol of destruction. It’s a fitting symbol for Nine Inch Nail’s latest record which explores the relationship between chaos and calm, violence and peace.

Textural Music Review Number Two: Hesitation Marks by Nine Inch Nails

‘The Eater of Dreams’ is not only the opening track of ‘Hesitation Marks’ but the monstrous creation of Reznor. It is birthed from asbestos and rust and charges full pelt towards the listener. By the end of its one minute instrumental birth it is breathing down your neck. And what could be more horrifying than a beast which consumes your dreams? Because your dreams are your hope, your colour, your imagination. But Trent has taken in decades of metal and darkness. He has trained non-stop in an abandoned slaughterhouse. Hesitation marks are superficial cuts used to test an implement before it is used to commit suicide. Indeed blood gets spilt in this record. Cuts are made. The cover art has been produced with a combination of traditional materials and techniques along with a more sinister process of calcification, bleaching, erosion and blood painting. “It’s an exploration of chaos and order” says the artist responsible and it offers a perfect visual accompaniment to NIN’s sonic landscape of steel stalagmites and glass stars. As Trent collides with the Dream Eater the explosion releases a wave of fuzz and static. Sirens and pulses come forth from malevolent machinery. Trent cuts into this landscape and from it he draws a thread of human rhythm which keeps him and his listeners dancing out the way of danger. Sadly, tragedy seems stitched into the fabric of genius and the truth is we could have lost Trent. That China White could have killed him. He could have killed himself. Become another Cobain or Hendrix but instead he has grown into another of Rock’s great archetypes, The Warrior. Like Simon Neil the topless Celt. As we progress deeper into the industrial chasm, noise is subdued by Trent and his gothic angels with their drum machines and synthesisers.  “Nature is violent.” “Thrive.” “Just become your disease.”