October 2020 Feature Release - The Sphere Edition

It's now October which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We're really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don't be shy.

This month's feature release for The Sphere is 1992's classic "Broken" E.P. from legendary US industrial rock/metal icon Nail Inch Nails.

https://metal.academy/releases/4902

From memory "Broken" was the release that first got Ben & I into Nine Inch Nails. I think I brought them to his attention shortly after release & he subsequently bought the CD before also purchasing their debut "Pretty Hate Machine" from a bargain bin. "Broken" was easily the more accessible of the two for a couple of obsessive metalheads however the more brooding & electronic "Pretty Hate Machine" grew on me over time to become another important release in my formative years.  In fact, it was a big album for my very first relationship & does bring back some pleasant & not so pleasant memories. I think it's fair to say that "Broken" possesses very little in the way of subtlety. It's easily NIN's most metal release & goes straight for the jugular for most of its run time but the quality of the song-writing is exceptional & I find it very hard to understand why Trent Reznor wouldn't have expanded this E.P. into a full-blown album because it undoubtedly would have been one of his best. In fact, songs like "Happiness In Slavery" & "Physical (You're So)" sit amongst the best works of his entire career so "Broken" is absolutely deserving of its status as one of the premier industrial metal releases of all time.

4.5/5

Excuse the quote format, technical difficulties on my end:

Daniel - it’s funny that you mention the length of this, because before reading your post I was thinking about how, despite being presented as an EP, I think this qualifies as a full album because it has 8 tracks and breaks the half-hour mark. Yes the instrumentals are super quick, but the same could be said of “Master of Reality”.  Also, I find the most common complaint I have about records that are good but not great is that they have too many tracks. If you have 8 rippers, why tack on a few duds just for the sake of reaching a more “appropriate “ length? Filler is filler, and Trent Reznor may not have had any more (good) material. I think the length of “Broken” is perfect. But on to the record itself. I don’t think I’ve listened to this in its entirety since 1993. At the time, I was kind of biased against this band and thought Ministry/Al Jourgensen/Wax Trax was the real deal while NIN were sort of the watered down equivalent for the masses. In retrospect, NIN were more accessible, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good, and “Broken” holds up really damn well for being almost 30 years old. “Wish” really is a fucking classic, absolutely essential in the history of rock music. “Last” is a perfect follow up track, a plodding foil to the former’s speed. “Help Me I Am In Hell” doesn’t quite live up to it’s title, but it’s cool anyway. Going back to the original point about length, the songs are all pretty dense and really kind of showcase all the tricks of the trade in this end of the Industrial spectrum. The quality level dips a little after “Happiness In Slavery” (I love the distorted bass on that one btw), but the remaining tracks are still good, there’s nothing on here I don’t like. Maybe I’ll up the score later, but right now I’m at 4/5.

So...I do not listen to very much industrial metal. Much of my brief dabbling's in the genre have been met with a resounding "meh". I don't think any of it is inherently bad, but there are so many acts just refusing to push boundaries. When you hear one industrial album, you've heard them all I guess.

However, when I saw Nine Inch Nails' Broken EP featured, I had to talk about it because Nine Inch Nails is one of my most important artists of all time. As a alternative rock group, they were one of a kind incorporating electronic percussion and manipulating other parts. As an electronic act, they have been constantly evolving their sound and style into something that is polished and clean.

Broken is certainly not polished and clean. The heavier guitars and Trent Reznor's howls are matched wonderfully with the abrasive percussion and thumping bass. I really enjoyed how this EP uses both live and electronic percussion together, giving it at least somewhat of a sense that it is really there. I can't say the same about the changing timbre of the guitars though.

I will be unapologetic when I say that Nine Inch Nails are a much better electronic band than as an industrial rock one, to the contrary of many music critics. But Reznor created a truly special industrial rock/metal side venture with Broken. While the band did experiment further with this sound on The Downward Spiral, it was inevitable that it would not last. But we can all still enjoy this fractured trip.

8/10