OK, so up next on the chopping block is another new album rewind. Now the last time I listened to this band was back in 2020 so it’s been quite a few years since I’ve gone back and listen to all of these albums from start to finish and in order. Now, why do I say that this is a 2025 rewind? Well because on this day, September 19, 2025, the latest album from Nine Inch Nails Tron Ares comes out. Yes I’m aware it’s a soundtrack however it is the newest album so I’m putting them back on the chopping block and with that let’s take a look……….
Pretty Hate Machine- well I honestly forgot how great this album is. I think I said in my last review that this is one of those quintessential industrial metal albums, and I still maintain that opinion. It’s weird for some reason this one just caught my ear more than it did last time. I forgot how great this album is and I can see why this one would probably be a fan favorite. Aside from how good it is it does have a couple of their more well-known songs such as Head Like A Hole and Terrible Lie. If it’s been a while since you’ve listened to this, go back and listen to it.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 10/10
Standouts: The Only Time, Sanctified, Get Down Make Love
Fixed- OK so this one didn’t get reviewed last time but I figured since the EP that comes after it is called Broken it just made sense to listen to this. This is basically just a remix EP, but it’s a good one. Normally, I’m not a fan of remixes, but I thought I’d give this one a shot and I found that I enjoyed this one. Whether I would go back and listen to it again is the question but overall it’s not bad. Definitely meant for more of the hard-core fan. I’m gonna give this one 8/10.
Standouts: Gave Up, Wish, Fist F**k
Broken- OK so as far as their EP’s go, this is probably one of the more well-known ones. It’s definitely a good bridge between PHM and The Downward Spiral. I will say it’s heavier than PHM and it’s a good preview of things to come for the following album.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 10/10
Standouts: Wish, Last, Suck
The Downward Spiral- oh yes, the album that gave us the song Closer as well as March Of The Pigs. I do remember the very, very first time I tried to listen to this album, I absolutely hated it (this was before I even started reviews) but going back and listening to this album from start to finish was a lot of fun. I mean, as far as NIN albums go, this is absolutely a must listen/have. Since I have seen them live recently the songs from this album definitely hit differently.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 10/10
Standouts: Burn, The Becoming, Heresy
Closer To God- another remix EP and this one is focused primarily around the song Closer. I picked this one because I didn’t change to the next album and Spotify just started playing songs off of it so I just kept listening. I mean when it comes to these remixes, you can only listen to the same song so many times but it is interesting to see the different ways a song can be remixed so I’m gonna give it 8/10
Standouts: Memorabilia, Closer (Deviation), March Of The Fuckheads
The Fragile- oh yes The Fragile…. well from what I understand this is the fan favorite or at least one of the fan favorites. I really really wanted to give this album a lower score. Part of that might’ve been out of spite (you people know who you are) and part of it might be because it’s a long album. I mean at first glance it does clock in at almost 2 hours. However, it does not feel like a two hour album and it flows quite nicely. This one is definitely more on beyond and I didn’t know there’s a lot more instrumental tracks which definitely give this album a more haunting tone. If Downward is the album that kinda broke them then this is the album that helped push them over that edge. It really is at the end of the day a brilliant album and just really goes to show the genius of someone like Trent Reznor.
Standouts: No You Don’t, Into The Void, The Big Come Down
Previous Score: 9/10
New Score: 10/10
With Teeth- I remember when this album came out and all the hype that was surrounding it. I guess it had been a few years between this one, and The Fragile so I can see why the anticipation was there. Now the question is, did it live up to the anticipation and the answer to that is absolutely. This one I don’t feel is as dark of an album like The Fragile and the songs maybe aren’t quite as slow. I don’t want to say it’s better it’s just different and that’s always a good thing.
Previous Score: 10/10
New Score: 9/10
Standouts: Only, You Know What You Are, Getting Smaller
Year Zero- I don’t wanna say that this album was just a bunch of leftover ideas from With Teeth but it almost does feel like this album picks up where it left off. I mean, in a weird sort of way I would almost say you can listen to the last album in this album back to back. I don’t know it’s just one of those things but either way in my opinion this is a very underrated/underappreciated album. And much like Pretty Hate Machine, this is another one of those albums that I seem to enjoy so much more this time around. I can’t explain it because I feel like this is kind of an oddball pic and I know that with the last album there was a lot of press and hype behind it and with this one, unfortunately it didn’t really feel that way. But I don’t know I could be wrong. I mean, I sort of stopped listening to them after With Teeth. But again, this is definitely one of those underappreciated records and really for those that are not too familiar with this one. I would encourage you to go back and listen to it because it really truly is a fantastic album.
Previous Score: 9/10
New Score: 10/10
Standouts: Vessel, The Good Soldier, Capital G
The Slip- I feel like this album tends to get overlooked when it comes to talking about these albums. I don’t know why it just sort of feels kinda like whatever. It does seem just a little bit softer and overall I just think it’s OK. It’s one of those where it’s got a good amount of instrumental as well as songs with vocals. I will say I didn’t enjoy the kind of atmospheric and haunting tone that this one had to offer but it does sort of feel like it was meant to be an EP. I also get the feeling that at the last minute it was decided to add more songs to it and release it as a full length. I don’t really know it does kind of feel a bit uneven but again it’s definitely one that should not be skipped.
Previous Score: 8/10
New Score: 8.5/10
Standouts: 1,000,000, Letting You, Echoplex
Hesitation Marks- in a weird sort of way this kind of feels like what The Slip should’ve been. They do kind of sound relatively similar and it almost feels like the ideas that Trent had for that album, he decided to put them on this album. I do remember that when this album came out the song Came Back Haunted was played quite a bit on KROQ and I remember thinking thank God they’re playing something good. Again this one feels like a continuation of The Slip and another one of their albums that overlooked.
Previous Score: 8.5/10
New Score: 8.5/10
Standouts: Everything, In Two, Various Methods Of Escape
Not The Actual Events- so if I’m correct in saying this, but I thought I read somewhere that this one was meant to be part of a trilogy of EPS. Either way, listening to this one and then the following EP I guess you can count it as one big full length. It does kind of remind me of their older material a little bit, which is cool.
Previous Score: 8.5/10
New Score: 8/10
Standouts: Less Than, The Idea Of You, Branches/Bones
Add Violence- for some reason I get a lot of The Fragile vibes from this album. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing because The Fragile is easily one of their best albums. But it’s a cool EP and it’s definitely up there with the Broken EP. Much like that EP it feels like a good bridge between Hesitation Marks and the following album.
Previous Score: 8/10
New Score: 9/10
Standouts: The Idea of You, Dear World, Not Anymore
Bad Witch- so from what I’ve been told this album is a total love letter to David Bowie. Like it’s David Bowie worship which I didn’t realize Trent was such a Bowie fan. Listening to it the first time I just thought it was OK but listening to it now I actually appreciate it a lot more. I don’t get the Bowie-ness to this, but at the time of this review, I have not put any of David Bowie’s albums on the chopping block. Going into this now it just sounds like any other Nine Inch Nails album but I would say it’s not my favorite, but still worth a listen. Like I really wanted to like this a lot more, but I just couldn’t really get into this one as much.
Previous Score: 8/10
New Score: 8/10
Standouts: Play The Goddamned Part, Shit Mirror, Over And Out
Tron Ares- well it’s here. New music from Nine Inch Nails. Let’s see Bad Witch came out in 2018 and in 2025, we finally get new music. Now this is a soundtrack album, but it does fit in very well with the rest of the catalog. There are a lot of Instrumental tracks which are reminiscent of albums like The Fragile. Now, I was fortunate enough to see them on their Peel It Back Tour so this album dropped the night of the show and listening to it on the way home is actually quite fitting. But aside from seeing them, this is actually the perfect album to listen to from any metal show or any show in general. It’s weird atmospheric and a little moody but yet feels very much like an NIN album. I’m gonna have to give this one 8.5/10.
Standouts: Echoes, Shadow Over Me, I Know You Can Feel It
When it comes to this band, I feel like you really can’t go wrong with any of their albums. Like they’re all special in their own sort of way and some just hit differently than others. I will say if you have not seen them live definitely do yourself a favor and go the next time they are on tour because they are one of the best bands to see live. I find myself appreciating this band and their albums a lot more since I originally put them on the chopping block. I mean, if you were to ask me back in the day if I was a fan of this band, I just probably would’ve said yeah I only like their songs that everybody knows but they are so much more than those songs. Now I did try to do the remix and Ghosts albums but I just simply cannot listen to the same song being remixed over and over again. I just simply couldn’t do it, but they are interesting albums nonetheless. There are no bad albums with this band just some that hit differently.
Final Grade: A+
Previous Album Rankings:
- With Teeth
- Broken
- Pretty Hate Machine
- The Downward Spiral
- The Fragile
- Year Zero
- Hesitation Marks
- Not The Actual Events
- The Slip
- Add Violence
- Bad Witch
New Album Rankings
- The Downward Spiral
- The Fragile
- Broken
- Pretty Hate Machine
- Year Zero
- With Teeth
- Hesitation Marks
- Add Violence
- Tron: Ares
- Not The Actual Events
- The Slip
- Bad Witch
- Fixed
- Closer To God
Sinister Reviews 