Nine Inch Nails Drops First Album in Five Years With ‘Tron: Ares’ Soundtrack

Nine Inch Nails (NIN) has unleashed their first work since 2020, a full soundtrack for the sci-fi film Tron: Ares. This marks their debut movie score under the NIN name, mixing raw tracks with haunting instrumentals.

The music fuses harsh industrial tones with sleek, electronic pulses that match the film's stark futuristic world. It also has a nostalgic feel. No More Workhorse said, "It starts out with pulsing, foreboding electronica in the shape of 'Init' and 'Forked Reality' before the first vocal piece. 'As Alive As You Need Me To Be' is classic NIN, albeit the heavily electronic side with a proper angsty chorus, give me something to believe in!” 

Trent Reznor's voice commands four tracks on the album. His raw vocals pierce through "I Know You Can Feel It" amid waves of static and beats. On "Who Wants To Live Forever?" Spanish artist Judeline joins Reznor for an intense back-and-forth.

Dark, instrumental pieces weave between the vocal tracks. "Still Remains" builds tension through stark beats. "This Changes Everything," "Infiltrator," and "A Question of Trust" pulse with machine-like precision.

While Reznor and bandmate Atticus Ross scored films like Challengers and Soul before, this is their first full soundtrack as Nine Inch Nails. Their past work hints at the skills they bring to this new project.

The album takes a different path than Daft Punk's pure electronic score for Tron: Legacy in 2010. NIN mixes raw vocals with stark instrumentals, aligning with the film's score, incorporating recognizable vocals, and creating a fresh take on the Tron sound. 

In the film, an AI called Ares breaks free. Fans can stream the soundtrack now on NIN's website. The film is set to hit theaters on October 10, with a Disney+ release to follow, alongside past Tron films.