Eat Me, Drink Me

The devil is not so black as he is painted

Taking into consideration the entire mass of rumors and controversies about Marilyn Manson's freaky persona it becomes obvious that the lion's share of his success depended on his image. However it is still worth admitting that this man possesses an outstanding faculty in the questions of artistry even if he realize it in such unattractive and provocative form. All his concert savageries, loud claims and images were a part of one big show, which has undoubtedly left its mark on a mass culture. Yet the loathsome image failed to survive in the conditions of severe reality and it is not quite clear today what have poor thing Manson done so special, what was he stigmatized for? And now when it became visible that the devil is not so black as he was painted there came a very special moment for Manson. The music itself walks in the foreground from behind the frayed red coulisse. So, four years after his latest studio album The Golden Age Of Grotesque and three after supposedly farewell compilation Lest We Forget The Best Of Marilyn Manson is here again with his sixth album Eat Me, Drink Me.

The most humane human?

Eat Me, Drink Me stands really close to being a solo album. Only two persons played all the instruments, composed all the songs and did the production work, these were Manson himself and his companion-in-arms, multi-instrumentalist Tom Skold. The fact that the album was recorded in home studio is also pretty significant. Overall, the album sticks to the atmosphere of Manson's previous works. It still has lots of industrial themes and heavy beats and the general context is filled with deadly bloody images of all sorts and kinds. The principal difference here is that the record is much less aggressive and forceful. Manson's grotesque, artistry and vile theatrical exaggeration are almost imperceptible. He, if you please, became more humane and doesn't try to play the role of chief psycho of this planet. The real achievements of the album are new songs that frequently demonstrate the expanded sound and songwriting diversity. If I Was Your Vampire, for instance, sounds like post-punk meets doom-metal. The slow tempo of the song creates an extremely specific atmosphere of darkness and despair that will definitely suite Goth music lovers. The album's single Heart Shaped Glasses sounds more poppy and even positive at times, but the song holds the leading positions by right. Track called Putting Holes In Happiness is one of the best "soft" songs here; it is something really close to ballad – tuneful, simple and mystically attractive.

The core of Marilyn Manson remains the same

In order to estimate and understand Eat Me, Drink Me it will be really helpful to stop comparing it with Manson's former works. In this case everything falls into place. Eat Me, Drink Me appears as a solid, dark colored, heavy goth-rock album. There is no special stylistic novelty, except Manson's brand industrial hand, of course, but overall it sounds sufficiently interesting. There is a good taste, competent songwriting approach and fair amount of pop influence. Eat Me, Drink Me is definitely important step in Manson's career, it looks like a peculiar come back of an artist in a little bit modified state. It is hard to predict which way he will choose in the future but judging by his slightly discouraged look on the album's cover he will hardly turn back to his past. This album is not a career misstep; the record can offer a whole mass of good songs indeed, simply this is Manson's most slow and mellow album. Old fans will definitely appreciate it because, on a big scale, the core of Marilyn Manson remains the same regardless what kind of make up he uses for his masks.