Returning with his 10th studio album (his full discography is a long one), the ever-controversial Marilyn Manson delivers Heaven Upsidedown. But has time mellowed the icon?
Lawsuits, accusations that Columbine was his fault, a mad lifestyle loaded with parties of a stranger nature and horrible (and untrue) rumours involving his ribs and puppies (separate rumours)… Marilyn Manson has ever courted controversy. He shot to fame with his early album, Antichrist Superstar and split opinion with it. But nearly 15 years on, is the same spark still there?
Starting off with sampled TV vocals and running right into “Revelation #12” with a savage industrial riff, Manson is back. His bullhorn-distorted vocals rasp and grate alongside the heavy bass while screeched guitar pinches and sampled police sirens announce his return to form closer in spirit to Golden Age of Grotesque as opposed to the frankly weaker past couple of albums. Straight on the tail of “Revelation #12” is “Tattooed in Reverse”, which seems to be “Arma-God-Damn-Motherf***ing-Geddon” in new robes.
A slower pulsing drum and bass line spiked with techno-distorted guitar and synth underline the shouted vocals, in the spoken word sections, you almost get the impression that Manson’s voice has softened and become richer over the years. The album so far feels like Manson is trying to reclaim the success and sound of previous albums, and so far, it’s working. We hear more of this success later in the album in “Blood Honey”. The song is a more defined and more chilling version of the excellent “Heart-Shaped Glasses”. The song talks about love and sex in a way both uneasy and sultry that Manson masters so well.
There are weaker moments surrounding this reclamation of the past however. Where some songs sound like welcome reincarnations, sometimes they feel like a weak tribute. “WE KNOW WHERE YOU F****** LIVE” is this very tribute to “(s)Aint” from The Golden Age of Grotesque. Whilst the thrash/industrial body of the song is good, it doesn’t feel original.
In fairness there are weaker moments across the album. “KILL4ME” and “SAY10” are both named in all caps as well, (caps lock may be cruise control for cool, but you still need to steer). The former of the two tracks is so synthesised it feels poppy, albeit on the marginally more edgy side of the genre whereas “SAY10”, despite its clever play on words is nothing more than a directionless stab at past glory.
Despite this reviewer being a fan of The Golden Age of Grotesque, there will be many a fan who don’t believe it features in his best work. Sometimes, viewed as the point he ‘sold out’ many of the aforementioned fans prefer earlier works such as Holy Wood and Mechanical Animals, and in fairness, they too are stunning albums, definitely filled with more unique work. “Saturnalia”, a nigh on eight-minute track found here, may quell some of the anger fans may feel towards this album.
Although it’s still struck through with thrash and industrial elements, they weren’t totally absent from the earlier albums either. The mood of the track remains ominous and the lyrics poetic, it’s easily on form to take the title of best track of the album.
The last two tracks on the album “Heaven Upside Down” and “Threats of Romance” tail the album off in an accomplished but still unimpressive way. There is some interesting piano in the finale, the instrumental work is still good, and Manson’s voice is still working wonders as well… so why is it disappointing?
Having been on the scene since the 90’s it was never going to be easy or even possible for Marilyn Manson to keep pulling new material out of the bag, particularly after the run of the first few albums he released; there was nothing like them. Unfortunately, it just seems a little like the well is running dry now. The throwbacks we find in the album are from the weaker predecessors and new sounding material is excellent when found, but too rare. The album isn’t actually bad, just underwhelming.
Author: Steve, Southgate store
