Album Review: Nine Inch Nails – Bad Witch (The Null Corporation)

Originally planned as the final entry of a three part EP series alongside Not the Actual Events in 2016 and Add Violence in 2017. Trent Reznor was concerned that he was falling into musical predictability so abandoned it in favour of Bad Witch, a six-track album.

No matter the reasons behind Bad Witch’s release, as fans we can rejoice at hearing new Nine Inch Nails music. Unfortunately, it’s not a very good album. That’s the short review.

The problems are many. For starters this leans so heavily towards a more computerised sound that calling it an industrial rock album is stretching it far. Sure, Nine Inch Nails have always had deep use of electro, trance, drum and bass etc but mixed in with rock. This is all nearly absent here and it makes for a disappointing listen as not a single track ever catches fire.

It doesn’t seem as though that’s the case at first. Shit Mirror has all the hallmarks of a classy number with high-tempo techno, the Nine Inch Nails fuzz and Reznor’s eclectic vocals. Then just as you’re getting into it, it ends.

It flows into Ahead of Ourselves, a horrifying drum and bass number that might be a contender for the worst song of the album if it wasn’t for the flashes of static-like intensity. No, the honour for worst song of the album and maybe this year goes to God Break Down the Door. An obnoxious techno style track with vocals that seem fit for a completely different song as they move at a slower tempo. Horrid and after a while, down right irritating.

All the oddities you’d expect from a Nine Inch Nails Records are present and accounted for here. You only need to hear the extended saxophone segment in Play the Goddamned Part to realise that. However, with mostly average songs, they don’t feel as enlightening or exciting.

I’m Not From This World tries to pull it back with dark and brooding atmosphere but goes on a little too long before the final track Over and Out ends things in a whimper although the vocals are good here.

Very disappointing. It’s hard to shake off the feeling that this is an album of scraps. Songs that didn’t fit on the previous 2 releases so were put together and released as an ‘album’.

Nine Inch Nails – Bad Witch Full Track Listing:

1. Shit Mirror
2. Ahead of Ourselves
3. Play the Goddamned Part
4. God Break Down the Door
5. I’m Not From This World
6. Over and Out