Marilyn Manson – "One Assassination Under God part 1"
An injured predator, and so fucking fierce
(Guest reviewer: Magnus Jørgensen)
"It's time to beat up the bullies and wash the bullseye off my back!", Marilyn Manson screams on "Raise the Red Flag", a stand-out track on the long-awaited album "One Assassination Under God part 1". Controversy feeds creativity, and in the case of Marilyn Manson, being under attack is essential to his art. His muse is his own martyrdom. Like the conservatives he has challenged for more than 30 years, Manson thrives on being the victim.
"Take your hatred out on me, make your victim my head", he wailed on "Tourniquet" in '96, and the more America clutched its collective pearls, the more his creative juices flowed. The album trio "Antichrist Superstar" ('96), "Mechanical Animals" ('98), and "Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)" ('00) were nothing less than brilliant in style, form, and execution, and they cemented Manson as a true artist, not merely a provocateur.
To the surprise of no one, it couldn't last. Drugs, complacency and vanity took over, and for more than a decade, he languished in a creative bog. The Golden Age of Grotesque ('03) was thematically inspired, but musically and lyrically a failure, and his attempts at finding inspiration in drug-fuelled self-pity and -praise brought us the lows of "Eat Me, Drink Me" ('07), "The High End of Low" ('09), and "Born Villain" ('12). In his self-indulgence, the Antichrist Superstar collapsed into a black hole, and a pathetic one at that. The duality of beauty and horror from his stage name became ugliness and apathy. On "Mechanical Animals", half of the album was written from the viewpoint of the vapid, reprehensible character Omega, and ironically, that is exactly what he became.
Thirty years after his debut album, "Portrait of An American Family" ('94), Marilyn Manson has come full circle. Controversial again. Hated again. And this time, he didn't paint the crosshairs on himself, or so he feels. It's back to being the bullied kid from his second single, "Lunchbox" ('95). This time it's personal, and once again, his creativity is flowing.
"I don't want to ruin the story, but it doesn't turn out well", he states during the slow build-up of the opening track, and as he recites the key line, "you will always be entertained", the idea of life-as-art that he promoted on "The Golden Age of Grotesque" takes on a new, fatalistic feeling. Producer, guitarist and musical partner Tyler Bates has, like on Manson's artistic comeback "The Pale Emperor" ('15) and "Heaven Upside Down" ('17), created an open, clamorous rock sound, but this time around, he's brought the metal. Staccato-riffing adds to the rising intensity as Manson declares that he has been betrayed: "Everybody showed up for the execution, but nobody would show their face".
After losing his beloved parents and being abandoned by friends and colleagues, the cost of having lived a life as an addict to drugs and fame is on painful display.
It's an exceptional opener, musically and lyrically, and while the second track, "No Funeral Without Applause", lacks that exceptional chorus or climax, it's just about effortlessly cool as clean, open chords meet thumping drums. Lyrically calling back to "If I Was Your Vampire" from "Eat Me, Drink Me", he warns that the downfall of one will always be applauded by another. Manson seldomly sings without a boatload of effects, but the clamorous end of this song sees him tear his voice apart – for better or worse.
The last Marilyn Manson album, the melancholy "We Are Chaos" ('19), brought a mellow sound and style courtesy of collaborator Shooter Jennings, and while working with a country-rock producer worked way better than you'd expect, I've been missing a good ol' riff-based metal song from Manson. Well, lo and behold, "Nod If You Understand". This is the closest to the sound of "Antichrist Superstar" he has been since that iconic record. The bass guitar drives the verse, the vocals are layered and distorted, and Bates clearly enjoys doing whatever dissonant shit he wants on the guitar. Manson spews his venom aimlessly in an attack on anyone who would want to challenge him, culminating in the repeated screams of "I won't repent!" set against a background of double bass drums and 16th-note black metal-style riffing.
Three songs in, and I'm feeling exhausted by the intensity of it all. That's when "As Sick as the Secrets Within" arrives with a helping hand. The clattering sound of the first three songs gives way to a more amicable – dare I say positive? – vibe. Here, Manson deals with sobriety and taming the beast within. It's a new wave-inspired pop song that could have been straight off "Mechanical Animals" if it weren't for the bitter words and the devastating ending. It's all skillfully executed, and Bates and the brilliant Gil Sharone on drums bring it to an intense finale.
Speaking of pop songs, I don't know what to make of "Sacrilegious" as it's too silly to be taken seriously and too brilliant to be dismissed. A percussion-driven pop song with the repeated chorus "Let's get evil, I'm feeling sacrilegious". The melody is underlined with a kazoo-like keyboard sound. Yes, really. It's stupid, it's horrible, but it's stuck in my head nonetheless, so I guess it's actually pretty fucking good. I'm feeling lost here. It's thought out well, though – the ridiculous chorus enables Manson to playfully celebrate his own comeback: "Are you here for the resurrection? How deep did you dig my grave?".
Like the conservatives he has challenged for more than 30 years, Manson thrives on being the victim.
The synths and whispered, distorted vocals of the slow "Death Is Not a Costume" bring the album to a place it didn't need to go. It works as a transition, and the chorus is pretty neat, but it's barely a song. It's a shame, because if that one and the following "Meet Me in Purgatory" had brought us more than great bass lines and catchy melodies, we would be dealing with an exceptional album. Sadly, "Meet Me in Purgatory" merely sounds like an updated and improved version of "Kill4Me" from "Heaven Upside Down". The sound is there, disco-thumping its way across the repeated "Are you gonna pray for me when I'm in purgatory?". It works, but it's too damn lazy.
I opened this review by quoting "Raise the Red Flag", and if there's a key song on this album, this is it. Manson spits out the words of this aggressive, perfectly structured and lyrically inspired track with surgical precision:
"Cadaver dogs already know your face
Why pretend in a room full of fakes?
Something made up for idiots to praise
Losers love liars 'til their dying day"
The unwavering response to an attack is to declare no surrender, but Manson is on the offensive, chanting, "My red flag is your white one soaked in blood". At this point, it's all-out war.
Despite the vindictiveness, there's a sense of sadness and regret to this album. On "The Golden Age of Grotesque", Manson enjoyed the idea of existing as a meaningless piece of entertainment. "I'm not ashamed, you're entertained", he sang, and while it was part of that record's concept, it always felt like an easy way out. He embraced not having anything left to say by insisting that irrelevance was a point in itself. 21 years later and reduced to a series of lawsuits and media scandals, the title track's repeated "you will always be entertained" sounds more like regret than celebration.
And the album's final song, "Sacrifice of the Mass", carries not only regret, but also doubt, longing, fear, and at the end, acceptance. After losing his beloved parents and being abandoned by friends and colleagues, the cost of having lived a life as an addict to drugs and fame – being the Omega-character – is on painful display. The nuances of his voice are hidden behind studio effects, but the words are crystal clear:
"Mother can't mourn me
Father won't win my fights
I'm dressed in my mortuary best
I'm ready for my ride"
The return of Marilyn Manson could have gone wrong in so many ways, but he has evaded every pitfall and every callout with impressive, aggressive elegance. As a cultural event, this album is important. As a lyrical work, it's as inspired as it is volatile. And as a rock album, it's pretty fucking awesome.
Rating: 5 out of 6
Genre: Alternative hard rock
Release date: 22/11/2024
Label: Nuclear Blast
Producer: Marilyn Manson + Tyler Bates
EDITOR'S NOTE: I know. The fact that Marilyn Manson can still get a record contract – with Nuclear Blast, all the more so – and release albums and play concerts after all the cases of women coming out against him for mental, physical, and sexual abuse, shows that the American justice system is horrifically flawed. However, his musical outputs continue to qualify for review on sites like this one, and I just so happen to have a steady guest reviewer who's a semi-expert on Marilyn Manson's musical career.
Personally, I think he should be behind bars or at least banned at any and every record company and music venue worldwide (Manson, not my guest reviewer). You can read more about the abuse allegations here, which I would strongly encourage for anyone who's unfamiliar with the cases:
https://www.billboard.com/lists/marilyn-manson-abuse-allegations-timeline/june-2009-spin-interview/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Manson#Abuse_allegations