I was first introduced to Nine Inch Nails in high school. My first remembered encounter with the band’s work was “The Downward Spiral”, with which I wasn’t terribly impressed. I was an arrogant teenage metalhead, and permitted my ears to imbibe only the most grotesque and brutal strains of black metal, death metal, and grind. All other music, to my younger self, was false, inferior. Nothing could capture the raw hatred I felt for the world and mankind apart from my beloved metal. I wanted to rend the bones of my enemies, not sit in a sad little corner and mope on about girls, or at least that was how I saw it back then.
Over a decade later, my disdain for Nine Inch Nails had diminished. Metal wasn’t doing it for me. I had burned myself out after a fashion so I needed something new, and after seeing them perform in Pensacola Florida in 2006, I had found a new respect for the band. I bought The Fragile, With Teeth, and Pretty Hate Machine, and devoured them with renewed interest but I still couldn’t bring myself to appreciate The Downward Spiral, even years after my first try at it.
In 2017, I began injecting hard drugs regularly. My ears would ring and the world would quake with each shot, and music became a more immersive experience. One day, whilst thoroughly fucked up, I opted to give Downward Spiral one last try, and finally, it clicked. There is no better album to sum up the misery and isolation of addiction than this one. From the gritty mechanical noise and buzzing guitars on “March of the Pigs”, to the somber minimalism of “A Warm Place” and the hushed, troubled voice of Trent Reznor in “Hurt”, this album runs the full gamut of addiction.
I remember listening to “Hurt” once after shooting the last of my dope and singing along to it, but I couldn’t last long before I began sobbing rather than singing. This album is equal parts an emotional hell-ride and a sonic juggernaut. There are so many nuances to it’s sound that you’re not likely to catch them all in one listen, but that’s quite alright as it’s worth listening to ad infinitum.
Listen here:
Towers of Rust 