Marilyn Manson unleashes ‘CHAOS’
Recently stirring from the darkness of his dwelling somewhere in the Hollywood Hills, Heavy Metal artist Marilyn Manson prescribes his new album, “WE ARE CHAOS” to a world dealing with numerous calamities.
Continuing a surge of creativity spanning four albums, since “Born Villain” (2012), Manson approached his new work, enlisting Singer/Songwriter Shooter Jennings, to share writing and producing credits.
Meeting on the set of the TV show “Sons of Anarchy” in 2013 and working together on Jennings’s “Countach (Dor Giorgio)” (2016), the reverberation of this artistic pairing is lean and focused material for
Manson that doesn’t caricaturize itself.
A long-time fan of the dark side of the emotional spectrum, the controversial rocker makes the case that evil can be just as impressive, if not more, than good on album opener, “RED
BLACK AND BLUE.” Setting the formula for the majority of the LP with doomy heavy guitar riffs that accent the work’s overall aura of aggression, Manson unleashes some of his most delightfully sacrilegious lyrics, “Set fire to the tree of life.
Not for death, just to watch the suffering. Get high on the smoke and dance in the ashes.”
Following is the title track and first single from his 11th studio album. Armed with a descending minor musical scale that adds to its anthemic nature, “WE ARE CHAOS” shows an uplifting and sentimental side that fans haven’t really experienced over his 20+ year output. Still nihilistic to be sure, lyrics like “In the end, we all end up in a garbage dump. But I’ll be the one that’s holding your hand, We are sick, (expletive) up and complicated. We are chaos, we can’t be cured,” paints only half of the landscape.
Deviating from this vibe briefly, “DON’T CHASE THE DEAD,” shows his knack for making scary themes into ear worms, “Don’t chase the dead, or they’ll end up chasing you,” is sung over a vintage Industrial/Electronic sound.
“PAINT YOU WITH MY LOVE,” along with the previously mentioned title track and “HALFWAY & ONE STEP FORWARD” contends the Manson/ Jennings partnership has birthed the best Gothic album the genre has heard in years.
On these tracks, the magnetic front-man’s bouts of experimentation crescendos, culminating in what sounds like a realization of the mood he’s been chasing the last few albums. By adding Blues/Country elements to his typical style of Metal, Manson’s sound has shifted. Gaining fresh soundscapes to apply to his
Musical artist Marilyn Manson poses at the premiere of the film “Halloween” at the TCL Chinese Theatre, Oct. 17, 2018, in Los Angeles. He recently released his album, “WE ARE CHAOS.” consistently devilish message, the new album such as with “PAINT YOU WITH MY LOVE,” is unique in its capacity to sound optimistic while lyrically staying true to the artist’s tendentious works.
The latter half of “WE ARE CHAOS” plays out void of filler, even adding to some of Manson’s best cautionary quips. The head banging inducer “PERFUME,” offers, “If you conjure the devil, you better make sure you’ve got a bed for him to sleep in.”
Well, its official, 2020 has conjured the devil that Brian Warner has been releasing since his 1994 debut. Lucky for fans of the eternal antichrist superstar, because as the saying goes, “the devil has all the best tunes.”