Nine Inch Nails have been hard at it for over fifteen years now, cranking out hardcore albums that appeal not just to metal and electronica fans, but to a surprising number of people who would never stick a big toe into the pool of either genre. There’s something immensely pleasing about hearing someone who generally listens to, say, Aimee Mann, quietly singing a few lines from “Closer” (I wanna fuck you like an animal/I wanna feel you from the inside). With Teeth has all the raw energy and angst you’ve come to expect from Trent Reznor, with a slightly more polished sheen.
Of all the Nine Inch Nails albums, With Teeth, probably sounds the least like a Nine Inch Nails album. That is to say, it has the most refined sound. Trent clearly spent some heavy studio time laboring over the thing, and smoothing out any bumpy parts. Gone are the stray hairs and scuffs that gave previous albums their sense of well-organized chaos. With Teeth is a little more…well, diluted isn’t the right word, but it’s the first word that comes to mind. It’s a good album nonetheless, marked as always by excellent musicianship mixed with electronica. “You Know What You Are?” charges by on an intense drumbeat that makes you think of running from invisible assailants in an anxiety dream. “The Hand That Feeds” is a thumping industrial track primped for radio play, and “Only” has an electronics-happy beat that sounds almost like a dance song, if NIN could ever be accused of such a thing. In the end though, the songs build and build and never quite overflow. You keep waiting for all hell to break loose, but just when you think it’s coming, Trent reigns everything back in and sends the song down a side street. A well made album, but it’s more like eight-and-a-half inch nails. |