What a great year 2025 has been for music. So many great albums, tours, songs, you name it. And now the time has come for…
The 2025 Audioeclectica End Of The Year Lists begin with the list for Best Producer. As always the stipulation for this is that an Album or EP had to be released in 2025.
Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.
This list is also in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!
01) Josh Barber- Idle Heirs 02) Jade Puget- AFI 03) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross- Nine Inch Nails 04) Sanford Parker and James Hammontree- Black Magnet 05) John Rojas- Machinekit 06) Steve Evetts- Deadguy 07) Jordan Olds- Blood Vulture 08) McKeever and GOSTEFFECTS- Heavy Halo 09) Sonny DiPerri- Blackwater Holylight 10) Pete/Sam Loeffler and Kemble Walters- Chevelle
What a great year 2025 has been for music. So many great albums, tours, songs, you name it. And now the time has come for…
The 2025 Audioeclectica End Of The Year Lists begin with the list for Best Vocalist. As always the stipulation for this is that an Album or EP had to be released in 2025.
Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.
This list is also in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!
01) Will Benoit- SOM 02) Cassidy Fleeman- The Anti Groupies 03) Josh Graham- Guiltless 04) Davey Havok- AFI 05) Jordan Olds- Blood Vulture 06) Sunny Faris- Blackwater Holylight 07) Trent Reznor- Nine Inch Nails 08) Sean Ingram- Idle Heirs 09) Mike McKeever- Heavy Halo 10) Kal Michael- The Owling
I’ve spent the past week trying to put into words about how truly amazing and stunning the two nights of Nine Inch Nails were at The Forum. Those two nights were beyond magical and therapeutic for me as well as being the 20th and 21st times I’ve seen my all time favorite band. It’s astounding to me that songs written over 30 years ago can sound so fresh and invigorating. Almost to the point of taking on a whole new meaning. What Trent Reznor has been able to do with constantly being able to captivate an audience and make a show an entire experience is otherworldly.
The stage set up for this whole tour was something else too. Staring out on a small stage in the middle of the floor, Trent appears alone, at a piano, and begins playing the most absolutely beautiful stripped down version of “Right Where It Belongs.” This is one of those songs in the Nine Inch Nails catalog that will make tears start flowing and choke you up. Just when you thought it was over though, Trent pulls out my another stripped down song in “Somewhat Damaged.” Now this is my all time favorite Nine Inch Nails song and when I say this was emotional, I truly mean it. So much so that in the first 5 minutes of the show both nights, the tears were definitely filling up my eyes. From there another stripped down song in “Ruiner,” followed by the “Nothing Can Stop Me Now” remix of “Piggy” which can be found don the Further Down The Spiral remix album. I always love when Trent pulls out these versions live. It adds so much more of an extra dimension to the songs and live show.
At this point, the crowd was in the palm of Trent’s hands and then a full on onslaught of heaviness in the form of “Wish,” “March Of The Pigs,” “Reptile,” Heresy,” “Copy Of A” and “Gave Up.” It doesn’t matter how many times in my life I’ve heard those songs be it on album or live, I always seem to go apeshit. And at these 2 shows, oh did I. The way this part started with “Wish” and ended with “Gave Up” put it this way, if you still had a voice after these songs, you weren’t loud enough. By the end of “Reptile” on night one and by the end of “Wish” on night two, my voice was gone!
Then after that part of the set, Trent and Atticus moved back to the middle stage where they were joined by Boyz Noize for a set of songs that were remixed in a very awesome way. The highlight of this part was when they played “Vessel” from the very underrated and unsung masterpiece that is Year Zero. This had the crowd in a dancing frenzy. The crowd of course went nuts for “Closer” but the audience pop during the new song “As Alive As I Need You To Be” was something else. Closing out that portion was a really great remix version of “Came Back Haunted.” If you haven’t ever really given Hesitation Marks a listen, you should.
As the band headed back to the main stage after that awesome remix set, Trent and company unleashed more awesomeness with even more intensity as the band blasted “Mr. Self Destruct,” “Less Than, and “The Perfect Drug” into the stratosphere. Having Josh Freese back on the drums in Nine Inch Nails is like having him back home. Josh’s ferocious performance of “The Perfect Drug” is one of those that should be studied and watched a zillion times. It’s that good. Rounding out the set was the always fun “I’m Afraid Of American’s” which is quite the relevant song in the days we live in. As well as the staples of “The Hand That Feeds,” “Head Like A Hole,” and “Hurt.”
I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the production of the tour. The lights, visuals, performances, and energy of the whole thing was unlike anything I’ve been to all year. You could tell that this tour was meaningful in a myriad of different ways. Trent even said, he wasn’t going to do a tour unless it was something that was substantial. And oh boy was it. As I mentioned these were my 20th and 21st times seeing Nine Inch Nails and I can honestly say this tour is in my top five NIN shows of all time! Thank you Trent, Atticus, Robin, Josh and Alessandro for two nights of absolute gold! I can’t wait till the next time!
Overall Rating: A
Review and Photos By: Brian Lacy
Set List (Same For Both Nights): 01) Right Where It Belongs (with Somewhat Damaged) 02) Ruiner 03) Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now Remix) 04) Wish 05) March Of The Pigs 06) Reptile 07) Heresy 08) Copy Of A 09) Gave Up 10) Vessel (Remix) 11) Closer (Remix) 12) As Alive As You Need Me To Be 13) Came Back Haunted (Remix) 14) Mr. Self Destruct 15) Less Than 16) The Perfect Drug 17) I’m Afraid Of Americans (David Bowie Cover) 18) The Hand That Feeds 19) Head Like A Hole 20) Hurt
Over the last couple of years, Black Magnet has been a band I’ve become quite fond of. Each album has upped the ante of not just creating great industrial music but, has breathed new life into the genre. Which brings me to the album of the week, Black Magnet’s new record, Megamantra. If you are a fan of classic industrial a la Ministry, Godflesh, Broken/Downward era Nine Inch Nails then you will absolutely love Megamantra.
Black Magnet’s Megamantra is an album not for the faint of heart. This album is a hard charging, pummeling piece of work. The dark yet lush dynamics found on this record really captivate the listener. While the subject matter on the album is chock full of heavy and harsh realities, the songs are layered with an anthemic sensibility that packs obscene amounts of energy into each track. The guitars are razor sharp and the riffs hit you like a ton of bricks. The synth work on this album is on par with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and it creates an additional mood that compliments the hard driving riffs and thunderous drums (which are live- thank you Noah!!!). Throughout the 9 songs on the album, you can most definitely sense that this is a “complete album.” The whole album is a standout track. I implore you to listen to this album from start to finish.
James Hammontree, the bands founder, guitarist, and vocalist has put together a lineup for this album that truly explodes upon first listen. Compelling is a great way to describe this record. After listening to this album, one, you’ll more than likely want to start it over, because it’s that good, and two, you’ll really want to go see Black Magnet live. The way these songs flow into one another as well as the very direct approach in writing makes Megamantra one of the best albums of 2025. Black Magnet is a band for now and the future so make sure you connect with this one!
THE WAIT IS OVER!!! NINE INCH NAILS IS BACK!! As you can tell I’m very excited. I’ve been waiting impatiently for new NIN for a long time and it’s finally here. What a way to wake up too! “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” is the first single released from their upcoming album/soundtrack for the new film Tron: Ares. The soundtrack is out on September 19th while the film will be out on October 10th. This new song is a very welcome back to my all time favorite band. The song itself definitely fits with the soundtrack/score element for Tron but, this is a NIN song all the way through from the vocals, lyrics, melody and and beats. I’m really looking forward to more!
Those that know me know I’m a GIANT Nine Inch Nails fan. I could write pages about why they are my favorite band but, I’ll save that for another day or even for a future podcast episode. The Fragile is my all time favorite album. Ever since it came out in 1999 it has yet to leave my constant rotation and it’s one of those albums I find is a warm blanket record. There are so many great songs found throughout the album. There is maybe one song that I skip (Star Fuckers Inc.) but, for the most part I don’t. The other day while listening to the full album, I found myself stuck on one song in particular and that would be the song “Please.” This song is so damn good and one of those that I wish would be played live a lot more. One of the other cool things about “Please” is the layers and textures of the instrumentation found throughout. And for those of you like me that are rabid NIN fans, depending on what version you have (CD or Vinyl) part of the song “10 Miles High” can be found at the beginning or the end of the song. Since Nine Inch Nails are touring again and I will be at both Los Angeles shows in Sepetember, lets put this out in the universe and see if we can make it happen “PLEASE!!!!!”
My all time favorite album is The Fragile by Nine Inch Nails. It’s an absolute masterpiece and then some. Truly, it’s one of those albums that the more you listen, it always sounds impeccable. There are a batch of song I could focus on for this topic but, I thought I’d pin point one song that I’ve always had a deep admiration for and that song would be “La Mer” which can be found as Track 11 on Disc 1. “La Mer” is a really poignant song within the whole of The Fragile. The song itself was conceived during a very dark period in Trent’s life. While on stage in 2009 he disclosed that he had rented a house at the time of the making of The Fragile, on an ocean with the external intent to write some music, but in reality had contemplated suicide there. This song was the only song to come out of that time and place. He still feels strange playing it live because it serves as a reminder of this period. And each time it’s played live there is a feeling that sails from the stage to the audience that gives you chills when you least expect it. There are a few different versions of the song with each one giving you a bit of a different listening experience and vibe. I highly recommend checking the other ones out.
The year was 2013, Nine Inch Nails have returned from a 5 year hiatus and a new album, Hesitation Marks. When news of this came out, needless to say I was pretty damn excited. Around the time of the release of the album, it was announced that Nine Inch Nails would be the musical guest on an upcoming episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. This would mark the bands network TV debut. They have obviously previously performed on MTV but, never a late night network show. They would perform 5 songs this evening with “Various Methods Of Escape” leading it off on TV followed by “All Time Low,” “Sanctified (altered version),” “Came Back Haunted,” and “The Hand That Feeds.” It was quite a fun set as those of us in attendance got to hear 3 new songs live for the first time plus a couple classics. It’s crazy to think that this was almost 10 years ago now. And since today is May 17… Happy Birthday Trent!
Nine Inch Nails- Various Methods Of Escape (Live On Jimmy Kimmel 2013):
When put in the context of certain albums, an instrumental song can shift the mood, vibe and all the in between. For years, I’ve always loved (shocker I know) the Nine Inch Nails song “A Warm Place.” I’ll never forget hearing it for the first time when I was younger and how the shift of The Downward Spiral turned when this song came on right after “Big Man With A Gun” and before “Eraser.” The way this song captivated me then and still to this day is pretty interesting. On one side you have this really delicate piece of music that has a calming sense to it. Then on the flip side of it, knowing that it’s part of something more and how it leads into “Eraser” makes it one of those songs to bridge a certain section of an album together. A song like “A Warm Place” is more reflective and introspective and in the context of The Downward Spiral, it gives you a moment in time to soak in all of what has happened, knowing what is inevitable in the end. Getting to hear this song live over the years too has given me all sorts of different vibes from it. The 1, 2 punch though of “A Warm Place” into “Eraser” on the album is truly one of those that to this day gives me chills. If you ever need a little break from everything, I recommend taking 3 and a half minutes out of your day and putting this song on and letting it just take you away.
Nine Inch Nails- A Warm Place:
Nine Inch Nails- A Warm Place, Eraser, Dead Souls (Live 2018):
One of the most fun things about discovering new bands is when you hear even just one song and it comes together, it’s almost like this cosmic force of meant to be. A little while back I was introduced to the band Black Magnet and they really knocked my socks off. Upon hearing the record it was as though Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine/Broken era and Godflesh Streetcleaner/Pure era came together with bits of Ministry and Skinny Puppy to make the album that brought industrial music back. Formed by James Hammontree in 2018, Black Magnet has set the underground industrial scene a blaze with a ferocious force that will get under your skin and give you chills in the way you’d want a horror film to. Not only does Black Magnet posses an industrial sound there is also a post-punk sensibility within that also coincides with metal that drives it all home with harsh precision and tinges of a melodic pulse. On the latest offering Body Prophecy, the onslaught continues with even more depth and tenacity. One of the things I love most about this album is that it is cohesive and full of life. Each song feels like it’s own revelation but keeps you focus and transfixed on everything that is going on. This is one of those albums that you feel compelled to start over once it reaches the end. I’m completely enthralled by the magnitude and intensity on this album. The production, engineering and mixing by Sanford Parker is exquisite and should be a masterclass on how to make proper industrial albums in today’s world. I’m looking at all you wannabe lame “laptop rock” bands. Black Magnet is a band not just for now but for the future! Also I’m just putting this out in the aether, BLACK MAGNET NEEDS TO OPEN FOR NINE INCH NAILS!!!!
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