Nine Inch Nails – TRON:Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and co are blending their soundtrack work with their regular band for the first film soundtrack under the Nine Inch Nails name.  On listening to it, it’s clear why this is; the album is very much a blend of dark instrumental soundscapes with the angsty electrorock Nine Inch Nails made their name with.  It’s the first Nine Inch Nails album released in five years, since the pair of COVID-era albums that came out in 2020.

It starts out with pulsing, foreboding electronica in the shape of Init and Forked Reality before the first vocal piece.  As Alive As You Need Me To Be is classic NIN, albeit the heavily electronic side with a proper angsty chorus: “give me something to believe in!”  They do atmospheric, vaguely sinister pieces better than most, with the likes of Echoes, No Going Back, and the gorgeous Still Remains.  You also get heavy electronica like This Changes Everything, Infiltrator, and A Question of Trust (a title and piece of music that sounds very Depeche Mode!), as well as a couple of pieces based around oppressive organ-style keyboards (In The Image Of, 100% Expendable and Building Better Worlds).  These call to mind Philip Glass’ soundtrack for the cult film Koyaanisqatsi.

There are other vocal pieces – I Know You Can Feel It has Reznor gently moaning along to creeped-out music, while Who Wants To Live Forever? is a dark electronic ballad, a duet between Reznor and Spanish singer Judeline.  The album finishes with Shadow Over Me, another classic angsty NIN track.  Elsewhere, it’s instrumentals that dominate.  That’s not to say it’s an easy listen – What Have You Done? has blasts of keyboards that will jolt you out of any moody stupor, should you find yourself there.

The soundtrack, as a trailer for the forthcoming science fiction film, sounds suitably dark and eerie, and even if you don’t care for the movie, this album works in its own right.

As Alive As You Need Me To Be