It appears Trent Reznor's attempts to create riots among the NIN fanbase is once again occurring after dropping numerous hints via posts he was making new NIN music, and a recent Twitter post saying he's returned to the studio.

Now, pictures have popped up on NIN.com of studio equipment and ? marks as the title...so keep an eye out for new NIN music.

Ah, Trent, we thought we had lost you.

6 out of 10

It’s hard to think of a band that has more epitomised the power of a collective voice than Massive Attack. Born out of The Wild Bunch, the Bristol soundsystem behind the rap-reggae fusion that infamously became known throughout the world as trip-hop, Massive’s finest moments deployed collaborations with the precision of a smart bomb. Whether it was Shara Nelson’s spectacular turn on 1991’s future-soul classic ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ or Elizabeth Fraser, elfin on the frosted beauty of ‘Teardrop’ seven years later, they knew a great vocalist – and exactly how to use them. Seven years on from their last album, 2003’s ‘100th Window’, and Massive Attack – now the core duo of Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja and Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall (who wasn’t even on the last record because he was on sabbatical raising his baby daughter) – return. The backstory of ‘Heligoland’ is enough to give anyone cause for concern. It appears to have been a tricky bugger to complete, vocals with the likes of Stephanie Dosen recorded, then scrapped. Not that the finished product is short on guests – it’s absolutely crammed with them. Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio, , Damon Albarn, , Mazzy Star’s and [/a]Horace Andy[/a] all check in for a song or two.

They’re all undoubtedly great singers, but the frequency with which they’re used gives the awkward impression that Del Naja and Marshall are a marginal presence on their own record. It’s hard to see the logic of kicking off with ‘Pray For Rain’, a trudge of sombre piano and tom rolls that Adebimpe approaches like he might any moody TVOTR song. Sonically, too, there’s little here distinct enough to leave a clear Massive fingerprint. We don’t hear Del Naja and Marshall at all until track three, ‘Splitting The Atom’ – which ironically comes off like a gloomy Gorillaz song, thanks to some ska-tinged organ from Albarn.

After a shaky start, ‘Heligoland’ finally begins to deliver. Long-time cohort Horace Andy shines on ‘Girl I Love You’, driving bass and droning horns harking back to the collective’s 1998 album ‘Mezzanine’. The luminescent ‘Paradise Circus’, featuring Hope Sandoval, is as close as the album gets to a ‘Teardrop’. “The devil makes us sick”, breathes Sandoval, over handclaps and chimes, “But we like it when we’re spinning”. ‘Rush Minute’, meanwhile, is tense and paranoid, Del Naja’s whispered chant raising the pressure a la ‘Inertia Creeps’.

Overall, though ‘Heligoland’ is a puzzling and frustrating listen. Some good tracks can’t hide the fact that this is the stuff of an identity crisis. It’s one thing to call on your famous friends to put flesh on your bones. It’s another if you leave the listener wondering if you’ve any spine at all.

Fans of the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age had better start cultivating some patience. Dave Grohl and Josh Homme are having such a good time with supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, it doesn’t seem they’ll be stepping back in front of their old gigs any time soon.

But who can blame them? The third member of their trio is John Paul Jones. You know, the dude who played bass on “Immigrant Song.” And really, it’s not just the members of the band who love Led Zeppelin; it’s TCV’s fans too. At least, according to Jones. “[Zeppelin fans] have been disappointed a long time—they’re getting used to it,” he told Stuff.co.nz. “I think they’re enjoying [the Vultures]. It doesn’t sound like Led Zeppelin but it’s got a similar sort of vibe. It’s a groovy, exciting rock band”

Jones says he’s enjoying the chemistry and a shared work ethic with the seasoned Grohl and Homme. “We’ll do a second album this year,” he confirmed. “By the end of summer, something like that.”

Dragon Age players, meet Anders, the freedom-craving, magic-using, troublemaking new companion who'll be joining your party in the Dragon Age: Origins – Awakenings expansion pack.

Most mages get sent to the Circle Tower at a young age, never really knowing much about the outside world before being confined under the watchful eye of the Chantry. Anders didn't make it to the tower until adolescence, so he knows what he's missing, trapped with all of the other "dangerous" magic-users, and he wants out. And a good meal. And perhaps a lady or two.

You'll likely be instrumental in making Anders' dreams come true when Dragon Age: Origins – Awakenings hits stores next month.