Artist: NINE INCH NAILS
Album: YEAR ZERO LTD. EDIT. (DIGI)

Release date: 2007
Media type: CD

On his 2007 full-length studio follow-up to WITH TEETH, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor steps away from the relatively straight-ahead rock aesthetic of that record, opting instead for an intentionally abrasive sound lined with sharp shards of noise and static. Tied together by an enigmatic, X-FILES-like concept involving an apocalyptic scenario, YEAR ZERO is marked by tell-tale tracks such as "Survivalism," a fierce number that harkens back to THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL, and "In This Twilight," a bleak, distortion-filled song. Reportedly influenced by the Bomb Squad's spare, hard-hitting production on vintage Public Enemy releases (a point driven home by the stark, stuttering "My Violent Heart"), ZERO also reveals that Reznor picked up a few experimental tricks from tour-mates TV on the Radio, as best exemplified by the guitar squalls of the aforementioned "Survivalism." Less personal and more cinematic than preceding outings, YEAR ZERO is arguably NIN's least-accessible album, and proves that Reznor hasn't abandoned his SPIRAL-era post as a sonic agitator who has infiltrated the mainstream.

TRACKLIST:

01. Hyperpower!
02. Beginning Of The End, The
03. Survivalism
04. Good Soldier, The
05. Vessel
06. Me, I'm Not
07. Capital G
08. My Violent Heart
09. Warning, The
10. God Given
11. Meet Your Master
12. Greater Good, The
13. Great Destroyer, The
14. Another Version Of The Truth
15. In This Twilight
16. Zero Sum