Nine Inch Nails - Further Down The Spiral

Label: Nothing
Catologue Number: HALO10
Format: CD
Date: 1995
Style: Industrial Rock/ Electronica
Rating: 7/10
Reviewer: Sidney James

Further down the Spiral is the remix companion of The Downward Spiral. Like the Fixed album of Broken remixes, the songs are treated with a sonic sledgehammer by a selection of artists including members of Nine Inch Nails, Jim Thirwell (aka Foetus), Coil and rather surprisingly the Aphex Twin.

With the array of talent on board, you just know that this is going to be a startling album. The fact that the remixers have been given a free reign also means that some of the album sounds incredibly different to The Downward Spiral. Apart from a live version of Hurt and the remains of lyrics the musical similarities between the bulk of the two albums is incredibly small.

First up is a remix of Piggy by Rick Rubin which turns the song into a more trashy number with a constant techno pulse and break beat behind it. This is one of the remixes that sounds closest to what is expected of Nine Inch Nails.

The song that receives the most remix attention is Mr Self Destruct, which appears as three versions as self destruction all remixes are take the original's cyber thrash and add more layers of sound, The Art of self destruction slows the song down into an experimental ambient noise before metamorphosing into a massive wall of sound at the finale. However it is the final Jim Thirwell remix that really stands out, stripping the track down to it's rhythm and twisting the guitars and vocals around this twitching beat.

For me the best remixes are those by Coil and the Aphex Twin. Coil take the track the Downward Spiral and make it sound like it's been recorded underwater and in space at the same time. The synths are glacial cool and a trance like feeling dominates the remix. The Aphex Twin on the other hand takes the track at the Heart of it all and produces a sinister low groan of a remix, where eerie horns meet a steam hammer drum sound, creating a track that is dark and sinister.

Further down the Spiral proves again that Trent Reznor knows which remixers to bring in. The remixers all bring out different elements to the Nine Inch Nails sound and prove that the art of remixing is not just about slapping a cheesy disco beat under a vocal track. Next time someone argues that all remixes suck, just point them in the direction of any of the Nine Inch Nails remix albums are prove them wrong.