Album Review: How To Destroy Angels – "An Omen" EP

posted in: Music News • Rock

It’s nice to see that Trent Reznor has found a soul mate who is just as weird as he is. His new project, How To Destroy Angels, is comprised of him, his wife Mariqueen Maandig, and Nine Inch Nails contributors Atticus Ross and Rob Sheridan. The result on their second EP, An Omen (styalized on their website as An omen_ EP by How to destroy angels_) sounds more or less like a collection of creepy, experimental, minimalist, girl-fronted versions of  NIN album interludes. That being said, it’s a fairly interesting and enjoyable listen.

The first track, “Keep it together,” is the most NIN-esque song on the album, with sparse electronic robot percussion and a two-note reverbed guitar line that repeats while dissonant synths wash over the whole track. The only difference is where you would expect to hear Reznor’s voice, you hear Maandig singing in a quiet cryptic way. But of course, before long, Reznor comes in with backup vocals and the two of them create harmonizing polyrhythmic layers repeating “I can’t keep it together” in a way that is reminiscent of “All The Love In The World” or “Every Day Is Exactly The Same” from NIN’s With Teeth. The structure and mood of this song set the tone for the rest of the album. Each track is a slow burn with very subtle dynamic variation, if any.

The biggest outlier is the second track, “Ice age.” The instrumentation on this song sounds like samples of acoustic guitars and various string instruments, creating a surprisingly world/folk timbre. Maandig sings a more uplifting melody over the track, and it remains about the same for 7 minutes with the only variation being a swelling of feedback and programmed sounds toward the end. The effect is very meditative as the listener will find with pretty much all of these songs.

A lot of the instrumentation is clearly the result of Reznor’s experience in film scoring. For example, the track “On The Wing” sounds like it could be the soundtrack for some suspenseful sci-fi lab scene where the protagonist is discovering something crucial to the entire plot. Most of the songs serve this same purpose, creating a mood to sound more like background music. Such is the case with “The sleep of reason produces monsters,” which only builds from a quiet instrumental track to a… less quiet instrumental track. “The loop closes” follows suit, save for a section where Reznor, Maandig, and perhaps the other members repeat in harmony, “The beginning is the end and keeps coming around again,” which pretty much sums up their approach to songwriting for this project.

The closing track, “Speaking in tongues,” makes interesting use of various percussive samples that sound almost rustic or tribal, while eerie synths and whispering vocals abound. The most surprising attribute in this track is the use of flute and what sounds like clarinet, adding only a subtle hint of jazz fusion to what can only be described as bizarre hypnosis or a robotic séance.

Overall, while not immdeiately moving, this album is an intriguing demonstration in sonic experimentation. Fans of NIN may be left wanting more, but for any fans of minimalist electronic music, this album will grow on you as you discover the subtle nuances interlaced throughout that actually make this album not so minimal after all. Click here to listen to all of An omen EP_ along with the rest of How To Destroy Angels’ recordings.

If you like How To Destroy Angels, you might also like OurStage’s own The Scientific Method.

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