The future is looking bleak. Not everyone may be aware of it, but the simple truth of the matter is that things are not what they seem. The United States is now being forced to take certain precautionary measures to prevent further suffering after horrible biological terrorist attacks that hit Los Angles and Anaheim. It was found that the rest of the country was alarmingly vulnerable to such attacks and the public at large went into a state of paranoia. But there was a cure. Directly resulting from these incidents, a new miracle drug called "Parepin" was added to the water supply in Orlando and other major cities shortly thereafter. That drug now courses through water systems of major cities throughout the United States and has for several years. There are now entire generations that have always been subjected to it, quite possibly without even realizing it. The purpose of Parepin is to strengthen the immune system in order to protect against biological warfare and diseases such as AIDS. However, since the introduction of Parepin, there have been numerous sitings by citizens of a haunting image commonly referred to as "The Presence." Below is a photograph of The Presence that a citizen managed to take from an earlier encounter:
And that sums up the basis for
Year Zero, the upcoming Nine Inch Nails album. It is an undertaking that has been described by Trent Reznor as something that is very experimental. To quote Reznor himself "Highly conceptual. Quite noisy. Fucking cool." The album has already proven to be quite different from anything else out there and it hasn't even released yet. This is due to the interactive experience that Nine Inch Nails has put together in marketing the album which actually displays the themes that will carry through it. Year Zero has managed to convey these themes through websites such as
I Am Trying to Believe and
Another Version of the Truth that show off a number of very dark and foreboding future events. This Nine Inch Nails forum called
echoingthesound does a particularly good job of covering everything that is tied in with the album.
From there I have been trying to follow along with the events every so often and am just genuinely looking to see more of what the album is about. It is all very interesting, strange, and oftentimes very creepy from what you see going from one site to the other. Some of the messages that you get from attempting to contact a supposed site creator or clicking on links as you look through sites that seem confidential are extremely cool and well done. When you try to contact the creator of I Am Trying to Believe who has stopped using Parepin for instance, you always get the same automated response that follows:
Thank you for your interest. It is now clear to me that Parepin is a completely safe and effective agent developed to protect us from bio-terrorism. The Administration is acting purely in the best interests of its citizens; to suggest otherwise was irresponsible and I deeply regret it.
I'm drinking the water. So should you.
Eerie. Another site has a warning message that appears whenever you click any of the links:
WARNING CODE 24.10.4 (All page functionality disabled): You are not the citizen assigned to this account. Close this window immediately and stay where you are. Authorities will be in contact shortly for appropriate reeducation.
First coming across all this is kind of a head trip. The forums that were linked earlier was one my personal favorite sites involved so far as the idea of people discussing the events like that was quite creative and really pulls you in. There was a site that previously led into the forums that goes by the same name but has changed since I last visited it.
Here is that site. Seems pretty normal at first until you click and drag your mouse over the page to reveal the actual scene. It should be noted too that the text with the other sites is intentionally blurred. With those you click and drag over the text and you can read them just fine. What Nine Inch Nails has been doing with this certainly isn't for everyone but if you are interested you should check out the album which released on
4/17/07.
Too long didn't read: Year Zero is an awesome and experimental Nine Inch Nails CD that came out today and you should look to get it.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Album Art: (click for huge)
Track Listing:
- Hyperpower! – 1:42
- The Beginning of the End – 2:47
- Survivalism – 4:24
- The Good Soldier – 3:23
- Vessel – 4:53
- Me, I'm Not – 4:52
- Capital G – 3:50
- My Violent Heart – 4:14
- The Warning – 3:39
- God Given – 3:51
- Meet Your Master – 4:09
- The Greater Good – 4:52
- The Great Destroyer – 3:17
- Another Version of the Truth – 4:09
- In This Twilight – 3:34
- Zero-Sum – 6:15
Listen to Year Zero in its entirety here:
http://yearzero.nin.com/
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cool site for the ARG aspect brought up by omega71:
Speaking of the ARG..If anyone besides me has been following since the beginning...Have any of you gone to the
http://www.freerebelart.net/ and put in your phone number?? Its fucking a trip...
Feedback from the site (there is also a lovely phone message):
HOME
YOU HAVE BEEN CAUGHT
CONSPIRING TO BETRAY AMERICA
You Are Being Watched.
Your computer has been tagged. Your phone lines will now be monitored and your mail will be opened. The
Bureau of Morality has logged your browsing history and will be analyzing it.
For the next twelve (12) months your person, vehicle
You have been flagged as a Security Threat: your presence will be recorded by cameras installed in all publicly
funded spaces, as well as by privately owned cameras held by participating corporate partners.
Citizenship Penalties:
The following penalties are effective immediately
Driver’s License: SUSPENDED/DENIED
Marriage License: SUSPENDED/DENIED If not married, any request for a license will be denied
Parenting License: SUSPENDED/DENIED Any children born without this license wi
hospital and raised in a government crèche. If you already have children, you have triggered an automatic social
services audit of your parenting which may result in your being judged Unfit to Raise Children
YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO FIGHT AMERICA.
AMERICA IS FIGHTING BACK.
How Can I Get My Life Back?
Despite what you think, we are not the enemy. America is a land of opportunity, and we’re giving you a second
chance.
Help us find and re-educate friends, co-workers, or family members
attitudes. You only need to help confirm one dissident to start recovering your lost citizenship points.
Click this button. Help save a friend from anti-americanism – and start getting your life back.
If you are ready to be an American again,
If anyone else finds out anything cool related to the ARG aspect and could post it, it would be much appreciated.
Posts
The Hand That Feeds
man
Looking around it seems like there are quite a few reviews up too.
thanks for the update?
if i had a stamp
i'd post the image right here
The Good Soldier is a great song
Capital G is cool too
I love this album
I'm definitely picking this up tomorrow!!
tomorrow!!!
there was also a thing i posted in the music thread where the record companies were using bots to put the bravery at the top of some MSN poll, so the NIN fans started using bots to fight back
it was pretty dumb, yet humorous
"If you're going to play tiddly winks, play it with man hole covers."
- John McCallum
I'm sorry, I just fucking loved that scene in 28 Days Later.
Personally, I think it's one of the best things Trentington McRazzmatazz ever done. You don't even have to get into the ARG to enjoy it.
God Given, Meet Your Master, and The Great Destroyer are my favorites and I think deserve a listen from everybody. Even if you don't like it.
JordynNolz.com <- All my blogs (Shepard, Wasted, J'onn, DCAU) are here now!
i don't know why
it's not even in a video game
Oh awesome, you were able to get a copy of the album before the release date tomorrow? Good to hear this is one of Reznor's best projects too. I've just heard the tracks that were sampled on the main site but I like the sound they have.
You can hear the whole thing on NIN.com
I'm going to a release party tonight. I'm excited.
The upcoming US tour had better open with Pinion, followed by Hyperpower! and end with In This Twilight and Hurt.
That would make my year.
JordynNolz.com <- All my blogs (Shepard, Wasted, J'onn, DCAU) are here now!
JordynNolz.com <- All my blogs (Shepard, Wasted, J'onn, DCAU) are here now!
or she is using a language that i do not have installed fonts for
It is tons better than that last album, that dancy shit
It is much better than With Teeth.
Nice to know that the first impressions are all positive so far though.
piracy
He's going to buy the album.
Or else.
or else what?
he'll save $20?
I think that's pretty cool.
NiN is one of those bands that i don't hate, they just are linked to other things in my brain that i'd better left in there
I'll stab him.
Unless you wear an eyepatch and a cutless while pirating, you don't get to pirate.
kind of like how listening to leftfield makes me think of unreal gold
Wow, really? Reznor seems to be cranking out some real quality stuff now and fast.
I think most fans are used to waiting about six years in between albums.
But Year Zero is definitely shaping up to be exceptional.