Marilyn Manson has hard time of it in recent years. Coming under scrutiny for the past few albums he has produced and the quality of his live performances, it was going to take a lot to win his fans round. Even his die hard fans were beginning to grow weary of what was coming next. But with Born Villain, all may be well again it seems…

With the release of 2007’s Eat Me Drink Me, and 2009’s The High End of Low, the band seemed to stray from their industrial sound, going for something different, that sadly didn’t work as well. Even the return of bassist Twiggy Ramirez on the last album didn’t really help. However, on Born Villain, Manson seems to bring together his sound from all his past albums and combine them to make a record that sees him back at his best. His vocal performance is also spot on. His wails, screams, spoken word antics, which are ever prominent on track The Gardener, and his distinct low melodic voice are emphasized more than ever throughout Born Villain.

The lead single No Reflection set the scene nicely. Crunchy guitars, classic Mansonesque lyrics, and even an air of Joy Division about it. It sets the tone for the record. Heavy riffs, thumping huge basslines and distorted as ever. Manson advised in interviews that Villain was heavily influenced by Killing Joke, where Twiggy said it was like a punk rock Mechanical Animals, turns out they were right.

There are some great tracks on the album. The aforementioned The Gardener, Hey, Cruel World and The Flowers of Evil all stand out but it is Murderers are Getting Prettier Every Day that is without doubt the best song here. Possibly one of the heaviest songs he has released since his work on Antichrist Superstar, it is ferociously fantastic. A great ending to the album, Mansons cover of You’re So Vain is also quite brilliant. Featuring Johnny Depp on guitar, it is a deeply twisted version of Carly Simon’s classic track.

The whole mood of the album is pretty dark, but it sees Manson growing up. I understand that sounds ridiculous as he is a grown man, but the sound is a lot more grown up than his recent efforts. It is a great comeback album, certainly his best in years. Manson seems to have rediscovered his musical identity and has finally realised he doesn’t need to be shocking anymore to be relevant, it’s all about the music. Born Villain does the trick and reminds us all why we love Mr. Manson in the first place.   

Caris Smith

Born Villain revealed!

Today the new video from Marilyn Manson has been revealed. The long awaited return sees Manson teaming up with Transformers star Shia LaBeouf for a short film that draws very heavily from French surrealist film, intense imagery and Shakespeare. It is pretty graphic in places, as you may expect from Manson, and is shown as three acts, as you would expect a Shakespeare play. 

Born Villain is taken from Mansons eighth studio album, which has currently not been named but looks set to be released before the end of the year. The vid has already stirred up much conversation, and comments on the song itself are varied. Let us know what you think? 

Caris Smith