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Released on January 19, 2015 via Cooking Vinyl
Last time I payed much attention to the ‘music news’, Marilyn Manson had resigned from making music for various reasons, one of which was to pursue his painting… or something like that. So it was with a fair deal of surprise that I saw his new album The Pale Emperor in the Echoes and Dust list of promos up for review. The last time I was excited to hear new Manson material was back in 2003 when The Golden Age Of Grotesque was due to be released and I was 14. Now we’re 12 years down the line, I’ve matured, my tastes have changed considerably and I’m probably a bigger music snob that Rob, Barry and Dick from High Fidelity combined, however – this may come as a surprise to some/many – this record isn’t awful. And I really do mean that. Since ’03 the few Manson songs I’ve heard have been less than satisfactory, but this has surfaced under my nose with no form of hype whatsoever. I’m coming to this entirely void of expectations, so forth I go into the unknown.
Well, it turns out this isn’t entirely unknown as its overall style harks back to Mechanical Animals UH-LOT alongside a subtle smattering of almost familiar guitar parts you could be mistaken for thinking are from Smells Like Children or Holy Wood. I realise as an artist/band he’s evolved, changed his approach, probably a certain amount of outlook, and a few band members along the way, but The Pale Emperor has proven that someone with a real talent for music can never truly lose their ability to make good music. In all honesty, I was expecting a trail of decline similar to that of Alkaline Trio- (who are my favourite bands by the way, but even I realise they’re making entirely different music these days) music that trickles slowly from its confrontational, expressive roots to mediocre radio-happy indie rock.
Each track takes its own time to progress and elaborate, in fact, The Pale Emperor is quite a lengthy epic. At no point whatsoever do any of the tracks get stale and boring. They may fluctuate in dynamics and energy, but there is a solid and habituate underlying rhythm that carries the entire album from foundation to finish. All in all, I feel like I’ve found the proverbial needle in the haystack here. It’s new, but it’s familiar, it’s mellowed but considers and retains its origins. This album sits wonderfully amidst the well known late 90s range of his discography, and any grown up Manson fan listening to this record will realise that he has outlasted his contemporaries in spectacular fashion.
FFO; early Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Brody Dalle, Nine Inch Nails, Woodkid.
