Trent Reznor’s latest effort, “Year Zero,” is so raw it grinds Nine Inch Nails down to the cuticles. Reznor sold his soulful and melodic presence, which the alternative scene related to so well on “Pretty Hate Machine” and “The Downward Spiral,” in exchange for dark, heavy, even hellish industrial beats that on occasion crossover into the noise sub-genre.
Beware, fair-weather and top 40 listeners, because “Zero” is actually a concept album designed as a gift to fans, rather than an effort to gain new ones. The album lacks the usual flow of previous NIN albums, where all the songs mixed into each other making the discs seem like an hour-long track, so several songs have awkward transitions between them. The disc also is intended to tell a story, and if you are unfamiliar with the background, lyrics become corny and the personal element of NIN, which attracts so many listeners, is lost into “Year Zero.”
In a genius stroke of marketing, marked by Reznor’s own disdain and apparent disgusted outlook of the future, “Year Zero” represents today, 2007 on the Roman Catholic calendar. Reznor said, “I wrote the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist.” This year marks the lead into warfare between both classes and nations, in the years to follow today. A phone number, 1-866-445-6580, accompanies the disc and leads you to the “U.S. Bureau of Morality’s” recording, which informs you by calling the number you plead guilty to “Consumption of anti-American media and have been flagged as potential militants.” The music proceeds to tell about the lower classes struggle to fight the oppressive and dominant U.S. regime. One of the more catchy tracks, “Capital G,” is a perspective track from a torn individual who traded in his beliefs and morals for the new ones imposed by the U.S.
To support the marketing, Interscope purchased a host of Web sites including AnotherVersionOfTheTruth.com, which appears to be a propaganda site for the Bureau of Morality, until you click and drag to reveal a desolate, destroyed landscape and link to a revolutionaries’ message board. The site shares its name with a soft instrumental album track, which is followed by the more spiritual track, one of the disc’s best: “In This Twilight.” Powerful lyrics about subjective reality, such as, “All the black is really white, if you believe it,” suggest it is about finding positive in the negative or the convincing nature of propaganda – I am not sure which. Names of other Web sites affiliated with futuristic war have been discovered in a variety of ways including binary code mixed into T-shirt designs and links on flash drives, planted in the bathrooms at venues. One in particular contained a rebel Web site and included the track “Survivalism,” a mediocre “Oi! Oi!” track about the mentality and attitude of a revolutionary, which was intended to be leaked by its discoverer before the formal release of “Year Zero.”
The good news is, now you have enough background to enjoy “Year Zero,” but listen with headphones or good speakers because unusual sounds and effects are mixed into track backgrounds which emit as static on poor quality speakers. Sound also is designed to come at you from different speakers in unusual ways that can transform a bumpy drive down St. Charles Avenue into a unique musical experience or complete crap, depending on your sound equipment – especially during complex tracks like “The Great Destroyer” and “Vessel,” which thunderously pump enough bass and distortion to shatter eardrums and glass.
The album rates one to two stars for a non-fan, but quickly jumps to four or five stars for followers. It’s a clever commentary and exciting experiment in music, so pay attention, because Reznor promises more Web site and information leaks to come. The subsequent leaks will further unravel the story behind the next great war as listeners follow an unusual path to the “Year Zero” sister disc, to be released in 2008.
Mark DeMeo can be reached at [email protected].
