Not The Actual Events
With his long-time collaborator and film-scoring partner Atticus Ross officially a member of Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor explores even more skin-crawling, drama-escalating atmospherics. *Not the Actual Events* is a five-song EP that plunges deep into the murky abyss—lyrics of despair, confusion, and discontent grind against a wall of buzzsaw guitars, electronic effects, and apocalyptic textures. Palpable intensity spills out of “Dear World,” the lamenting “She’s Gone Away,” and the dystopian “Burning Bright (Field on Fire).” “The Idea of You” recalls *With Teeth* with its live drums and pummeling guitar balled into a tight fist that wildly expands and contracts in classic NIN style.
Nine Inch Nails’ surprise-release new EP Not the Actual Events is slight, but at moments it delivers the kind of visceral fury that NIN hasn’t recreated since its mid-’90s Downward Spiral heyday.
Though Nine Inch Nails has always been a collaboration, it’s often seen as being all about Trent Reznor—though any deeper reading about The Fragile reveals a process involving several musicians creating ideas, not one man locked into a studio. But Not The Actual Events is the first time Nine Inch Nails is officially…
Industrial rock behemoths head back down the spiral on their latest EP.
Released with no prior warning at the conclusion of 2016, Not the Actual Events unveils a new incarnation of Nine Inch Nails, one where Trent Reznor's longtime collaborator Atticus Ross is an official bandmember.
While his post-millennial output with Nine Inch Nails has demonstrated the more muscular side of Trent Reznor's musical personality, his fil...
Nine Inch Nails - Not the Actual Events review: A striking meld of old and new...