REVIEW: Marilyn Manson – ‘The Pale Emperor’

Artist: Marilyn Manson
Album: The Pale Emperor
Genre: Goth Rock, Alternative, Metal
Label: Hell, etc.

“The past is over.”

That line says it all. This is not your older brother’s Marilyn Manson. And if you spend about fifty-five minutes with The Pale Emperor–or even just five–you’ll know it.

But let’s not be hasty with that statement. The dark and evil-natured frontman is still dark and evil. But more purposeful. This is less “on-your-sleeve,” and instead with more intention, as well as metaphorical. There are so many instances where Manson dwells on the inherent evil and corrupt nature of humanity. In this manner, he’s anti-god and anti-religion, but not for the sake of it. Songs like “Slave Only Dreams to Be King” carries a hierarchical reference to an idea that pawns and the less fortunate have no desire for freedom, but they want the power to enslave the mighty; essentially role reversal.

Other ideas like what is represented in “Warship my Wreck,” which is a play on words, seems to reflect a self-inflating nature of war and veterans; the propaganda that warriors fight for our freedom, love to do it, and it desensitizes us to war and the killing of people.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware that Manson was very capable of doing this in the past–writing metaphorical prose for his songs, and polarizing masses to an incredible level of discomfort–but he also made it hard to understand, between his vocal deliverance or tracks where the drums and bass were punching you right in the gut. Now he has toned it down, made it inherently darker, which shows that the man still knows how to orchestrate a song (or multiple songs) with purpose.

And while I think that Manson has maybe turned it down to 8 or 9, the record still contains “bangers” that one might find familiar of old Manson. The single “Deep Six” is very reminiscent of old, with the in-your-face vocals and cautious but obvious satanic/anti-religious references. It’s very quick, not much for lyrical content, but still gets the point across. “Love is evil / Con is confidence / Eros is sore / Sin is sincere.” The awesome part of this song is that it’s actually about betrayal, as the story of Narcissus, involves Zeus’ wife Hera leaving him for Narcissus. So the idea that she better watch her back suggests revenge, and how even gods themselves are jealous and capable of corrupt and terrible things. It’s also relieving that Manson has the ability to still make a track that rules that much, but isn’t as corny as “This Is The New Shit” or “mOBSCENE”.

If you’re nervous about this record, or don’t care about Manson anymore, go listen to “The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles.” It’s like the older, stoned brother of “The Beautiful People.” It’s without a doubt the anthem of the album. The content carries an axe, harnessing the god-complex in us all, with all the punches that Manson can give; clever, melodic and powerful. Trust me.

“Lazarus got no dirt on me.”

SCORE: 8.75/10
Review written by Corey From

Corey From
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One Response to “REVIEW: Marilyn Manson – ‘The Pale Emperor’”

  1. abkasck says:

    Great review and totally agree with most arguments here. Kinda confused why this album only got an 8.75–but I think the points are spot on. I took a way a totally different interpretation to many of the songs, but that’s the beauty of manson’s reflective and vague lyrics. I felt the album spoke more about the dangers of excess and the over-consumption of dangerous emotions like pride, vanity, anger and over-stimulation by war, violence, consumerism, etc. Could not be more pleasantly surprised by this album–favorite one so far since Mechanical Animals.