Nine Inch Noize’s Closer: Music is Dangerous Again

I love when music is dangerous. The Clash. Public Enemy. Slayer. Bikini Kill. And of course…Nine Inch Nails. Now, Nine Inch Noize is something out of an industrial techno dream. It all started with Boys Noize, aka German-Iraqi producer Alexander Ridha, doing a remix of a Nine Inch Nails song and then collaborating with the industrial techno project on the Challengers soundtrack in 2024. This led to another collab on the latest Tron movie and a highly anticipated Cochella set in 2026. Well, if you missed Cochella have no fear! Nine Inch Noize is here to save you with putting their set on a new LP. This is a mix of covers and remixes of Nine Inch Nails tracks. As a record, it has some high points…but I kept wishing they went back to some tracks on Pretty Hate Machine or the EP Broken….I love Broken. But having said that, what they put on wax is fantastic and worth the hype. So, let’s take a look at one of Nine Inch Nails’ iconic tracks Closer.

First off, I’m glad we got the collab in order to have a record called Nine Inch Noize…I mean that collab name is gold. Now to get to the track. It’e really hard to mess up Closer. I mean….it’s a classic. Let’s get the vocals out of the way. Reznor sounds just like he did on Downward Spiral. His vocal has remained timeless. If anything, it has a bit more urgency and edge to it…which could be from the fresh influx of energy from Boys Noize. So, if you are a classic NIN fan there is no need to worry. The core of the song remains intact…but it’s at the dark edges that this track gets a new life.

Boys Noize really brings a new dimension to the track and injects some energy into a classic song. Ridha’s techo buzzes, clicks, weighty chords and climactic builds and drops gives the track added texture, depth and scale. It really gives you that Pretty Hate Machine energy…like you’re listening to people just going for broke and you look over your shoulder…because this music sounds dangerous….and are you allowed to listen to it? It’s that edgy dark danger and oppressive weight and urgency that got a bit lost with Nine Inch Nails solo stuff, but you do get in collabs…like the track Isn’t Everyone with the band Health. For whatever reason, collabs really inject some energy into Ross and Reznor and you get some dirty industrial electro metal you can really sink your teeth into.

All and all this track was worth all the hype leading up to Nine Inch Noize. I know it’s a remix, but it does what all great remixes do…it gives you a new side to the track. I felt that I have heard Closer from every angle possible, but Boys Noize’s production and new era industrial gave me one last fresh take on a classic. And I love him for that.

Listen to Closer