What can be said about this album… It’s awesome. It’s the best Nails album in a long time, I’d venture to say ever.

Year Zero is something of a concept album, like Antichrist Superstar, or American Idiot. The story behind it is of a future imperfect, pretty much what could happen in a few years if our culture keeps heading in the direction we’re going. I like the concept behind Year Zero, it’s akin to the cyberpunk novels I enjoy reading, so aces there Trent. I could go on and on about the cool underground marketing campaign with the message in the tshirt, the leaked songs USB drives. I feel like all of this hype is clouding over the fact that Year Zero is one well thoughtout and perfectly executed disc. Don’t get me wrong, the marketing of Year Zero was innovative, well done, very effective. It’s scary though that it seems like all the media is talking about is the mystique behind the album. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, you could be selling turds wrapped in foil and as long as you hyped it up the media will eat it up.

Enough of the rants, let’s get to what’s important—at least to me— the music. The first impression that I got from this album was wow. Year Zero is definitely a Nails album, but it wasn’t exactly like any of the prior “halos” that had come before it. It took me a few good listens to figure out what I was hearing. Year Zero is like a best of Nine Inch Nails album without all the tired assed songs that I’d been listening to since I was a tweenie little wannabe goth. I can taste elements of all of Trents past projects in this album. The songs don’t have the expansive stadium quality that With Teeth had, but it does share the sense of structure that With Teeth had. I know Trent bemoans the label “industrial” when discribing his sound, but Year Zero makes it a little hard to refute. The core of most of the songs are built around heavy layers of samples and drum machines. The traditional instruments seem more like filler. Anyone who is a fan of NIN’s remix discs, or Trent’s work on projects like Pigface will be familiar with the “glitch” sound Trent has embraced in Year Zero.

I enjoyed the variety in the tempos of the tracks. Unlike his earlier albums—I’m thinking The Downward Spiral—were all the heavy songs are lumped together and all of the droning sleepy songs are together, Year Zero does a good job of mixing it up. This constant switching of gears kept me on my toes, I felt like I could lose myself in the music easier. I never had that zombie-like experience, where a large chunk of the album has gone by and I didn’t realize or even care. This efffect usually happens around track seven on most albums, but Year Zero held me straight through to the end.

The one thing that I haven’t touched on, and it really is the foundation of the album, is the direction Trent took with the lyrics. Unlike previous forays, this album is not written from his perspective. Rather, Year Zero takes you on a trip through the eyes of various people struggling to deal with life in a crumbling society. There is the disenchanted soldier, a militia member lying in wait. a capitalist, religious zealots, aliens come to discipline humans, and average citizens being mistreated and spied on by their government. Trent’s storytelling abilty shines through in each song. You have no trouble believeing that he is the character, rather than speaking on their behalf. It’s no wonder that their are already talks of turning this concept album into a full fledged movie.

On a final note, I had heard that Year Zero is only half of the story, and I can’t wait to hear the rest.