A violent, primal and raw cover of an already savage and aggressive song

“Closer” is a song originally composed by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It is a powerfull song about a person suffering from terrible psychological problems and who finds his peace in engaging in violent, mindless lustful activities. Like a parasite, while curing his own needs, the person gradually sucks the life of the “victim”. Asking Alexandria, one of metalcore’s leading acts, has decided to make their own version of the eerie song. Is it any good or is it just a generic copy of the original?

First of all, both versions are quite similiar. They both start-off slow and in a certain harmony, while progressing to a much more dynamic but also chaotic state. Both songs have a rhytmic feel to them, like a heart beating in full synchronisation. Whike Asking Alexandria are using a much heavier, metalcore-esque sound in their cover, they still mange to pull-off the industrial and electronic elements of the classic version.

The difference between both both version lies more in the performance of the song. Asking Alexandria, as a hardcore metal band, use their  trademark harsh vocals, brutal screams and deadly growls to transform the song in an entirely different dimension. The interesting thing is, that it doesn’t start-off this way. The cover begins slow and harmonic and gradually develops to an absolutely chaotic mess of down-tuned guitars, power chords, vicious drumming and primal screaming & growling. This totally fits the theme of the song: a depressed person that slowly loses his mind and finds his only hope in hot-tempered sexual encounters.

Asking Alexandria’s cover of “Closer” is however not for everybody. The harsh vocals and heavy guitars aren’t for everybody and the dark theme of the song can be a big turn-off for some people, that are not used to this kind of music. Personally, I am also not a huge fan of metalcore (usually too much screaming and less actual music) but in this case, the heaviness definitely suits the progressive tone of the composition. My only flaw with the song is, that after a certian moment it gets a bit too repetitive.

All in all, Asking Alexandria’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” is a modern, metal take on the mid-90s classic. It is violent, aggressive and full of harsh screaming and growling about the primal needs of a deprived human being. While not as good as the original, I would totally recommend it to people interested to give it a try.