Marilyn Manson: The High End of Low

Editorial

Release date: 23 May 2009 (Interscope)
The release of Marilyn Manson's Eat Me, Drink Me in 2007 elicited a mixture of praise and cries of anguish from fans and media alike. To coin a phrase, Manson had perfected the art of 'concept metal', producing a highly stylised and heavily industrial version of the genre that could swing comfortably between hellfire-breathing, guitar-heavy explosions to fuzzed-out, ethereal ballads with equal aplomb. While Manson was accused of making the album a mainstream vehicle for his idiosyncratic whims, it still moved over four million copies worldwide. Two years, various festival performances and an international tour later, we now have a continuation of the theme, The High End of Low.

The first single released from the album, Arma-goddamn-motherf...in-geddon, is pure MM. Fuzzed-out and dirty bass, distorted guitars and whispered, breathy breaks (that bare more than a passing resemblance to The Beautiful People) create a song that will ease any long-time fan into their comfort zone. Appropriate, as the rest of the album can get quite lyrical, with Manson relying on his words to draw the picture for the listener, as opposed to simply destroying them with his music. It's a deft and daring approach, but one that works. But fear not, the darkness and freak-show shtick he's known for are all present.

Manson also seems to have been further released from the grip of his hubris this time around, allowing the album's production to be spread across some of the industry's most noted rock figures: Chris Vrenna (drummer for Nine Inch Nails), Sean Beavan (producer for Nine Inch Nails, Slayer, System of a Down et al) and, after a six-year absence from the band, Twiggy Ramirez. As a result, the sound across the album is mature and tempered, but still within the realms of the dark lord's domain.

Tracks:
1. Devour
2. Pretty as a ($)
3. Leave a Scar
4. Four Rusted Horses
5. Arma-goddamn-motherf...in-geddon
6. Blank & White
7. Running to the Edge of the World
8. I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies
9. WOW
10. Wight Spider
11. Unkillable Monster
12. We're From America
13. I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell
14. Into the Fire
15. 15
16. Arma-goddamn-motherf...in-geddon - (The Teddybears remix)

Mark Gambino, June 2009
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