The dark prince of industrial doom and gloom used to work at a glacial pace that had fans waiting for eternities between new projects. Once they arrived, they were exquisitely rendered masterworks that laid Reznor's depression and deviance out bare for all to see, but the time that elapsed between albums was deadly.

That's no longer the case. Since 2005, Reznor's recorded output has been greater than in the 10 years that came before it, and he shows no signs of slowing. What once was measured perfection and immaculate attention to detail has become free and loose, and you could hear Reznor's elation in changing his conventions on 2007's "Year Zero," which sounded like it had been run over by a car by the time it got to your ears.

Now comes "Ghosts I-IV," a two-disc, 36-track set of beautiful and dense instrumentals that marks Reznor's first release outside of the major label system that he detested for years. Released guerilla-style on his Web site last month, the set hits stores today.

The songs, most between 2 and 3 minutes in length, don't have titles and often resemble rough outlines of other works. But all are distinctly Nine Inch Nails-ian, built from the ground up of haunting piano plinks, ghostly xylophones and strings, and whirring keyboards and guitars.

Reznor is on the cutting edge of the Internet and its possibilities, and he has invited fans to grab the "Ghosts" tracks and do what they want with them. Technology has caught up to his sensibilities -- or at least justified them -- and "Ghosts" is the kind of project that likely wouldn't have flown while he was signed to Interscope.

Without Reznor's voice -- he appears only in faint whispers -- the project feels somewhat incomplete. But its clear his creative well still runs deep, and it's exciting to discover what will come next from this techno rebel.

© Copyright 2008, New York Times Syndicate