Send "How To Destroy Angels " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 When Trent Reznor made the decision last year to put Nine Inch Nails on hold indefinitely in order to pursue new projects, the assumption was that whatever he had planned next would be a significant departure from the music he had been making under the NIN name. Reznor had already shown signs of restlessness and an eagerness to move beyond his band's core aesthetic, most obviously on the all-instrumental Ghosts I-IV box set. It stood to reason that he was about to reinvent himself, and given his good taste and formidable talent as a musician, the prospect was very exciting.As it turns out, he wasn't too interested in a full creative transformation. How to Destroy Angels, the self-titled debut of his new trio featuring his wife and ex-West Indian Girl singer Mariqueen Maandig and his regular collaborator Atticus Ross, essentially sounds just like a Nine Inch Nails record, with the only major difference being that Reznor has turned over lead vocal duty to Maandig. Even that is a relatively superficial change. Somewhat disappointingly, Reznor's first major project with an outside vocalist-- aside from his gigs as a producer for Marilyn Manson and Saul Williams-- doesn't involve him exploring new approaches to integrating vocals into his music or working with a singer capable of performances far beyond his own range, but instead has him writing parts for Maandig that stick to his usual melodic style and phrasing. Reznor had integrated a female voice into his music once before, on "La Mer" from 1999's The Fragile, and the result wasn't entirely different from what we have here: a softer, more feminine gloss on Reznor's established style. This isn't a bad thing. Over the course of two decades, Reznor has expanded his repertoire to the point that his music is instantly recognizable even if he avoids the sort of all-caps declarative screaming that characterized Nine Inch Nails' biggest hits. How to Destroy Angels skips over that aspect of Reznor's work entirely, instead placing its emphasis on plaintive downtempo ballads and tracks dense with rhythm and harsh electronic noise. The songs in the latter category take sounds explored on more recent NIN records to interesting extremes-- "Fur Lined" is like a dizzier version of "Only" from With Teeth; "The Believers" further explores the glitchy, discordant textures of Year Zero; "Parasite" includes some of the filthiest guitar noise in Reznor's discography....full text |
| Prefixmag |
| Trent Reznor might have given his rabid fanbase a scare after he closed the books on Nine Inch Nails -- at least in the live sense -- and got hitched last year, but wedded bliss hasn’t seemed to slow the industrial-rock pioneer down by any means. In fact, it’s proven beneficial rather quickly. How to Destroy Angels, a project that was once a well-kept secret, has been overexposed in a matter of weeks. (I’ll gladly share some of the blame.) Comprising Reznor, his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and his longtime studio sidekick Atticus Ross, How to Destroy Angels bears all the imprints of latter-day NIN. The twist here is that Reznor concedes the mic and gives his significant other time to shine. While Maandig’s no stranger to the spotlight, having served as lead singer for L.A.-based psych-rock act West Indian Girl for five years, the mood has shifted dramatically from that band's sunnier, pop-inflected tunes to Reznor and Ross’s serrated digital soundscapes. To her credit, though, Maandig, whose seductive, sinister delivery resembles that of Curve’s Toni Halliday, proves she’s capable of adapting on How to Destroy Angel's six-track self-titled EP. Her soft, breathy touch offsets the EP's most stirring moments, including “The Space in Between,” a rather brief, brooding track that’s the sad-bastard cousin of Portishead’s “Machine Gun,” with its distant, militaristic percussion and distorted synth lines. When How to Destroy Angels stretches things out, though, as on the EP’s other highlight, the seven-minute closer “A Drowning,” the muted pitter-patter of beats and dark piano melody take a backseat to Maandig’s aching croons, resulting in Reznor’s best subdued material since NIN’s Still from 2000. ...full text |
| Leisureblogs |
| After putting his two-decade-old Nine Inch Nails on the back-burner last year, Trent Reznor said he needed a fresh start musically. Then he formed a new band – How to Destroy Angels -- with his wife, vocalist Mariqueen Maandig, and longtime NIN collaborator Atticus Ross. Their six-song EP, "How to Destroy Angels" (Null Corporation), available as a free download at howtodestroyangels.com and for sale as a CD, is hardly a jarring departure from business as usual. The distorted guitars and machine beats of “Parasite,” the synthetic swing of “BBB,” the percolating clatter of “The Believers,” the way “The Space in Between” moves in like a black doom-comes-knocking fog – these could’ve all been easily repackaged as Nine Inch Nails songs and no one would’ve known the difference. Maandig’s voice is nestled inside the mix rather than rising above it – she’s more like another instrument, a ghostly texture in Reznor’s arsenal rather than a more traditional-sounding lead vocalist. It adds up to more of a transitional work than a reinvention, a placeholder until Reznor’s next major move....full text |
How To Destroy Angels lyrics
|
| |||||||
