Bad Witch

Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch
Critic Score
Based on 30 reviews
2018 Ratings: #388 / 890
User Score
Based on 777 ratings
2018 Rank: #197
Liked by 106 people
Sign In to rate and review

CRITIC REVIEWS

100
NME

A triptych of a record, ‘Bad Witch’ spans all of NIN’s many sides. From clattering industrial sonics, to expansive, soaring soundscapes, via free jazz and mutating electronica, it’s the sound of a band bolstering their already formidable palette.

100
Louder Than War
This is a varied and engrossing adventure.
83
Consequence of Sound

With Bad Witch, Reznor and Ross have proven their staying power as one of heavy music’s most formidable outfits, honoring their roots while looking forward into bold, new transcendent territory.

82
Sputnikmusic

Bad Witch finds Trent at a rare peak in terms of song flow and focus, and as a piece is absolutely deserving of the LP distinction.

80
Evening Standard
That makes this the Nine Inch Nails equivalent of a nostalgia trip.
80
Upset
With ‘Bad Witch’, Nine Inch Nails are as inspired, angry and as abstract as ever.
80
Metal Hammer

This is music in its rawest form, an expression from deep within, without any care for convention or crowd-pleasing – and it is excellent.

80
Dork

Be warned; there are no bangers here. It’s intense brutality that’ll test you, and leave you feeling a bit empty – in all the right ways.

80
Albumism

Whilst Bad Witch might not be the “album” many longed for, there are compelling elements hidden deep within its tracks that will reveal themselves to you each time you venture back to listen.

80
Northern Transmissions
While his abstract moments will be the deciding factor for many on how much you love this album, it’s hard to deny this isn’t one of Reznor’s best albums in years.
80
Pitchfork
Trent Reznor’s third EP-length NIN release in the last two years is the best of the lot, with a raw and rough sound that feels both unfinished and alive.
80
The Line of Best Fit

Nine Inch Nails’ Bad Witch is their finest work in over a decade.

80
DIY

On ‘Bad Witch’, Trent Reznor has curated a feeling, an atmosphere, an idea.

80
The 405

Nine Inch Nails complete their recent trilogy of short releases with Bad Witch, Reznor’s best record in over 20 years.

70
Slant Magazine

Nine Inch Nails’s Bad Witch wrestles with a depraved culture that's showing signs of impending collapse.

70
Clash

While never quite holding together as a set, NIN continues to admirably cover new ground while doing what they do best, namely reflecting humanity’s worst impulses.

70
The Needle Drop

The level of artistic freedom Trent and Atticus give themselves on the somewhat uneven Bad Witch is more exciting than just about any Nine Inch Nails release since 2008.

70
No Ripcord

For Reznor, if there’s a truth to be found in our place in the world, it’s darker and more complicated than we would like. While he denies us simple solutions, he uses this album to open sounds and atmospheres stranger and more daring than he’s used before.

70
AllMusic

Bad Witch concludes that we're the problem and humanity is doomed. That nihilistic blood courses through these six songs, which can be divided into pairs: a triptych within the trilogy.

70
Classic Rock

Bad Witch emerges as a record not so much of our times, but of our scavenging, tornado-whipped grandchildren’s.

67
A.V. Club

The instrumentals, like all NIN, reward immersive listening, but fans may find themselves wishing for a little more to grab onto.

60
The Young Folks

There’s some fighting spirit in the hyperactive beats of Bad Witch. But they’re not enough to stave off a general misanthropy that is off-putting and severely limits the album’s overall impact.

60
The Independent

If you’re looking for connectivity between the tracks, it’s difficult to find it through the array of hyperactive noise. However Reznor and writing partner Atticus Ross managed to create their own version of The Matrix.

60
Loud and Quiet

Despite the face-contorting whiff of a publicity stunt, ‘Bad Witch’ is as solid an ‘album’ as any of NIN’s recent releases.

60
Tiny Mix Tapes

Reznor’s experiments still show him pushing the sonic form while he excoriates his demons.

60
Drowned in Sound

That’s not to say Bad Witch isn’t interesting - it definitely is - but it lacks the coherency that we look for in an album, the statement of where the artist is at right now.

45
Spectrum Culture

There’s little here that inspires reflection, no anthems to pump your fist to, no beats with which to pummel the dance floor with mindless tribal abandon.

Plats
89

This is the third time I'm reviewing this album.

"Bad Witch" was the first Nine Inch Nails record I listened to, despite barely even being an album. Looking at this with a retrospective eye for their discography, I think this represents a healthy revision for what's to come in the future. The first couple of tracks still show that Trent and co. are still keeping their industrial rock roots intact but, as the album goes on, it goes toward an industrial dark jazz direction. Layers of ... read more

aaron
87

PSA: IF YOU HAVENT LISTENINED TO THIS AT FULL VOLUME YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.

Within the space of three EP’s NIN have brought about such a new texture to their sound it’s astounding. Atticus Ross must take the credit for that, he has changed the way Trent Reznor makes music, there is no denial of that. Trent too has grown vocally, he has never sounded better than right here on this small collection of sound.

Admittedly upon my initial listens there was harrowing confusion at ... read more

PipePanic
98

While it screams and beacons that it's an album, this is an EP. An extremely entertaining and dense EP, but it's an EP none the less. Anyway, this "album", along with the other records in this trilogy (Not The Actual Events, Add Violence, Bad Witch) is dense, heavy, and intricate. Switching from heavy industrial stompers to demented jazz pieces to lush instrumentals with ease. A interesting and very dense EP, maybe a bit too dense for its own good (I'm Not From This World is a bit ... read more

Felix_96
70

7/10

good

Fav tracks: Shit Mirror, Ahead of Ourselves, Play the Goddamned Part, God Break Down the Door, Over and Out

SandpitTurtle
80

The variety of this album is immense. Only being 30 minutes long, the LP is a hell of a ride.
-
Die Diversität des Albums ist krass. Obwohl es nur 30 Minuten lang ist, ist es gefüllt mit denkwürdigen Parts.
-
Tracks ranked:
1. Shit Mirror
2. God Break Down the Door
3. I'm Not from This World
4. Ahead of Ourselves
5. Play the Goddamned Part
6. Over and Out

tommy_lindsey
80

This is actually one of the most unique Nine Inch Nails albums to exist, which is really saying something because the first couple of albums they made were some of the most crazy rock records I've ever heard. "Bad Witch" isn't NIN diving into unfamiliar territory completely but them using saxophones and combining them with the elements of ambient music that Reznor & Ross have used for their soundtracks, as well as the industrial rock and noise rock that this band has always been ... read more

Purchasing Bad Witch from Amazon helps support Album of the Year. Or consider a donation?
Become a Donor
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Advertisement

Track List

Comments (3)
Sign in to comment
7mo
1y


Added on: May 10, 2018