HOLY WARS Reimagine Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” With Striking Emotional Weight

Los Angeles–based hard rock outfit HOLY WARS unveil their haunting cover of “Hurt,” originally made iconic by Nine Inch Nails, delivering a stripped-down and emotionally charged reinterpretation. The band approach the song with restraint and reverence, allowing its vulnerability and pain to take center stage while filtering it through their own dark, modern lens.

This release follows HOLY WARS’ stunning live performance of “Hurt” inside a church in Los Angeles, a setting that amplified the song’s solemn atmosphere and emotional gravity. That same sense of intimacy carries into the recorded version, where every note feels deliberate and exposed.

Vocally, the performance leans into fragility rather than force, emphasizing the song’s themes of reflection, loss, and inner conflict. The minimal yet powerful arrangement gives the track room to breathe, reinforcing HOLY WARS’ ability to balance heaviness with emotional depth.

The cover arrives on the heels of the band’s previously released emotive single “METAMORPHOSIS,” further cementing HOLY WARS’ reputation for fearless expression and artistic risk-taking. With “Hurt,” the band continue to prove that vulnerability can be just as heavy as distortion.