FROM EXILE DESCEND INTO “THE GREAT BELOW”

We’ve known for awhile now that Atlanta’s From Exile were working on a Nine Inch Nails covers EP; we’ve even gotten to hear a sample of the band’s version of “Ruiner,” which, I wrote in September, “promises that these covers will most certainly not be rote re-recordings of the original.”

Well, now the band has released a preview of another NIN cover, “The Great Below,” and this sounds so little like the original (from 1999’s The Fragile) that I’m not even sure I would have recognized it if I didn’t know what it was. Which is awesome! I’ve long said there’s no point to doing covers if you’re not gonna put your own spin on it, ’cause you’ll never be able to just top the original. And this sounds pretty killer:

There’s still no official release date for the EP, but it will be available for free download (!!!) sometime this spring right here. The band is also playing a gig at the Earl in Atlanta this Friday night; get details here and go if you can. I’ve never seen these dudes live, but I have to assume they rule.

-AR