SPC HC's Album Reviews
This album is the entire reason I've decided to get into music reviews, and this is my first.
I started listening to this around the summer of 2021, though since it was my first taste of Nine Inch Nails I found it abrasive and downright unpleasant to listen to sometimes, to the point where I stopped midway through Reptile and left it for a while because I didn't have enough interest in it to get through the last few tracks.
However, after extensively listening to metal and delving into the industrial realm of Argent Metal (a term popularized by DOOM fans for Mick Gordon's style of composition for the game's reboot installments), I had been warmed up more to those super-loud grinding noises that had turned me away at first.
I also didn't think I was in the right state of mind when I first listened to this, because while I was in a serious state of depression I was too deep in my own thoughts to have any sort of retrospective or even perspective for that matter on how I felt, so the lyrics kind of went in one ear and out the other. However, getting back into it in around July of 2022 after a bad breakup I instantly found myself deeply relating to many of the lyrics and even getting emotional as it brought up painful memories of the years prior and forced me to face them. I even remember being excited for the lyrics the next song would hold because I wanted to see how I could put them into my own shoes. It speaks to the honesty of the writing as Trent Reznor was absolutely not in a good place when making this album and it's almost comforting to know that someone else had gone through all this shit like I did, albeit worse off.
Something I tend to idolize this album for is its ability to shift between about 12 different genres of music flawlessly without really breaking its narrative (although Heresy and March of the Pigs deviate from specifically the emotional side of the spiral itself, they're still critical to understanding the protagonist's views and mental state). The use of the main "Downward Spiral" melody is perfectly used, ranging from subtlety to in-your-face much like the album itself. It took me weeks to realize that said melody was actually in Piggy and Heresy as well as Closer and the title track, revelations I was pleasant to discover that make me wish it was used even more between Closer and The Downward Spiral.
The range of instrumentation is absurd, in a good way. Every song has its own texture to it, ranging from the sandpaper-like Mr. Self Destruct, to the cold harshness of Heresy, to the slimy lowness of Closer, to the robotic whirring of The Becoming, to the chugging factory of Reptile. Every song feels unique and somehow isolated in a smooth and steady flow from song to song, and in one specific case (A Warm Place), it made me want to cling onto the song and never let go, breaking my heart as it slowly but surely (literally) erased itself. All of this only elevated by Trent Reznor's vocals, TDS is nearly perfect.
I started listening to this around the summer of 2021, though since it was my first taste of Nine Inch Nails I found it abrasive and downright unpleasant to listen to sometimes, to the point where I stopped midway through Reptile and left it for a while because I didn't have enough interest in it to get through the last few tracks.
However, after extensively listening to metal and delving into the industrial realm of Argent Metal (a term popularized by DOOM fans for Mick Gordon's style of composition for the game's reboot installments), I had been warmed up more to those super-loud grinding noises that had turned me away at first.
I also didn't think I was in the right state of mind when I first listened to this, because while I was in a serious state of depression I was too deep in my own thoughts to have any sort of retrospective or even perspective for that matter on how I felt, so the lyrics kind of went in one ear and out the other. However, getting back into it in around July of 2022 after a bad breakup I instantly found myself deeply relating to many of the lyrics and even getting emotional as it brought up painful memories of the years prior and forced me to face them. I even remember being excited for the lyrics the next song would hold because I wanted to see how I could put them into my own shoes. It speaks to the honesty of the writing as Trent Reznor was absolutely not in a good place when making this album and it's almost comforting to know that someone else had gone through all this shit like I did, albeit worse off.
Something I tend to idolize this album for is its ability to shift between about 12 different genres of music flawlessly without really breaking its narrative (although Heresy and March of the Pigs deviate from specifically the emotional side of the spiral itself, they're still critical to understanding the protagonist's views and mental state). The use of the main "Downward Spiral" melody is perfectly used, ranging from subtlety to in-your-face much like the album itself. It took me weeks to realize that said melody was actually in Piggy and Heresy as well as Closer and the title track, revelations I was pleasant to discover that make me wish it was used even more between Closer and The Downward Spiral.
The range of instrumentation is absurd, in a good way. Every song has its own texture to it, ranging from the sandpaper-like Mr. Self Destruct, to the cold harshness of Heresy, to the slimy lowness of Closer, to the robotic whirring of The Becoming, to the chugging factory of Reptile. Every song feels unique and somehow isolated in a smooth and steady flow from song to song, and in one specific case (A Warm Place), it made me want to cling onto the song and never let go, breaking my heart as it slowly but surely (literally) erased itself. All of this only elevated by Trent Reznor's vocals, TDS is nearly perfect.
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I'm giving this album 5 stars in a different way than I gave The Downward Spiral 5 stars. This album is a masterpiece - undisputedly, unequivocally. But it's a masterpiece that takes so much personal effort to even begin to understand in depth. There's no way a first-time listener is gonna pick up on the fact that it's a thematic loop. There's no way they're gonna notice the recurring motifs and themes. It's such a dense, layered, complex album that absolutely rewards repeat listening, but strangely enough it isn't half as accessible as the loud, abrasive, sandpaper-on-your-face-scratching-layer-after-layer-away record that is The Downward Spiral.
Let's talk about that dense, layered complexity. Right off the bat, Somewhat Damaged introduces 3 things - The rising melodic theme in the main riff, a slurry of various rhythmic noises (mainly composed of string instruments, drums and synths) that build on top of each other making the song more and more intense by each verse, and Trent Reznor's vocals, ranging from quiet, introspective melodies to unrelenting screams of pain, loneliness and heartbreak. Just like Mr. Self Destruct, Trent is here to slap you in the face with everything you should expect going forward.
Then, after a small bridge between songs, we move on to The Day The World Went Away, which is as loud and ear-piercing in its slow, screeching guitars as it is beautiful in its peaceful strumming with the cryptic poem being sung by Trent Reznor. After that, we're met with The Frail - a peaceful instrumental piece guided by a single piano melody with soft synth padding, before slamming into The Wretched, a sickeningly slow chug of distorted drums and a low, tense piano melody describing the bottom of the pit Trent finds himself in, and how devoid of hope it all seems.
Then, out of absolutely nowhere, a loud, fast tempo, desperate love song comes in - We're In This Together. This song deterred me hard from the album on the first listen, as I was listening to it at a time when I was looking for songs like Somewhat Damaged...if you know what I mean. It's a very good track and thematically very important, although there isn't much of a bridge between it and The Wretched (which is fine, sometimes love sneaks up on you.)
After that, disc 1 tells a heartbreaking story of Trent (or the protagonist, however you may call him) finding happiness and love, only to have it come back down and leave him feeling suicidal and depressive again. Disc 2 tells the aftermath of him finding hope and various methods of escape, only to lose it all again and end up feeling a hopeless sense of decay.
This album feels more personal every time I listen to it and someday I hope to understand its depth and love it just as much as The Downward Spiral. It's a realistic depiction of life in the real world for some - hope can come and go in forms of love and belonging, but there's always that threat that it'll all come crashing down and you'll end up back at square one.
Let's talk about that dense, layered complexity. Right off the bat, Somewhat Damaged introduces 3 things - The rising melodic theme in the main riff, a slurry of various rhythmic noises (mainly composed of string instruments, drums and synths) that build on top of each other making the song more and more intense by each verse, and Trent Reznor's vocals, ranging from quiet, introspective melodies to unrelenting screams of pain, loneliness and heartbreak. Just like Mr. Self Destruct, Trent is here to slap you in the face with everything you should expect going forward.
Then, after a small bridge between songs, we move on to The Day The World Went Away, which is as loud and ear-piercing in its slow, screeching guitars as it is beautiful in its peaceful strumming with the cryptic poem being sung by Trent Reznor. After that, we're met with The Frail - a peaceful instrumental piece guided by a single piano melody with soft synth padding, before slamming into The Wretched, a sickeningly slow chug of distorted drums and a low, tense piano melody describing the bottom of the pit Trent finds himself in, and how devoid of hope it all seems.
Then, out of absolutely nowhere, a loud, fast tempo, desperate love song comes in - We're In This Together. This song deterred me hard from the album on the first listen, as I was listening to it at a time when I was looking for songs like Somewhat Damaged...if you know what I mean. It's a very good track and thematically very important, although there isn't much of a bridge between it and The Wretched (which is fine, sometimes love sneaks up on you.)
After that, disc 1 tells a heartbreaking story of Trent (or the protagonist, however you may call him) finding happiness and love, only to have it come back down and leave him feeling suicidal and depressive again. Disc 2 tells the aftermath of him finding hope and various methods of escape, only to lose it all again and end up feeling a hopeless sense of decay.
This album feels more personal every time I listen to it and someday I hope to understand its depth and love it just as much as The Downward Spiral. It's a realistic depiction of life in the real world for some - hope can come and go in forms of love and belonging, but there's always that threat that it'll all come crashing down and you'll end up back at square one.
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