by MindRelapse

As with "Eat Me, Drink Me", which I reviewed on the 'phant nearly two years ago some six weeks before its release date, I had a chance this past week to listen to a few tracks off "The High End of Low". I figured I'd give you all a review, from a hardened fan's perspective, in light of all the 'in the know' reviews that have been popping up.

I'll keep it fair and balanced. I admittedly loathed "The Golden Age of Grotesque" but thoroughly enjoyed "Eat Me, Drink Me" for what it was, so I'm not going to write the next following paragraphs with a modicum of bias whatsoever.

 

[this review contains 0 spoilers.]

The material I heard did not indicate that Manson has set out to create a sequel or counterpart to anything he's done in the past. More so than "Eat Me, Drink Me" or "The Golden Age of Grotesque", the album sounds like Manson is finding his footing in the post-triptych era. And thank God. For all the concerns of the new material being 'heavy for the sake of being heavy', I can confirm that those concerns can be laid to rest. The heavy stuff has its place. The only parallel I can draw to "Antichrist Superstar" is that they both welcomed in a new era with a heavy, hard around the edges style where you knew something big was about to begin. There was one mid-tempo rocker I heard, but for the most part I was privy to the heavy stuff and if there was any doubt that Manson didn't have it in him... Jesus Christ, just wait.

Another parallel I can draw, and perhaps the most important one in light of recent events, is to "Holy Wood" when regarding Twiggy's bass. For my money, Twiggy's best material was on "Holy Wood". Maybe you have to be a musician yourself to appreciate the contributions of a good bass player, and not to knock Tim Skold whatsoever, but ever since Twiggy left the bass has always been in the background, following the guitar along aimlessly. Twiggy gets several chances to shine on the songs I heard which were very bass heavy. "Arma-God Damn-Mother Fucking-Geddon" is as insane as it sounds; the heaviest Manson song since "1996" (at least from the select few I've heard).

On Manson's front, the wear and tear on his voice is still audibly present, but less apparent than on "Eat Me, Drink Me". While I too believe that Manson's best vocal performance was found on "Holy Wood", high voice on this album holds up surprisingly well given the heavy nature of the material. It's a little hard to pay attention to lyrics when the music is this fast, but I did spot the re-emergence of Manson's wordplay and a general 'fuck you' tone. His vocals sound raw again, this time due to age, but they compliment the music perfectly.

I didn't hear anything close to what you would call a 'single' by radio or television standards. "I Want To Kill You Like They Do in the Movies" is Manson's most un-commercial pick for a lead single yet, and there were one or two other songs he could've picked that would have made his 'new sound' more accessible. But Manson isn't looking for what's accessible. "I Want To Kill You..." has Manson abandoning that idea altogether. The lyrics are as harsh as you'd expect and even though it's exceedingly long, it progresses (and 'contracts' would be a suitable counterpart) at a pace that makes it seem like only four minutes long. This is what "If I Was Your Vampire" lacked in terms of replay value; you don't want to skip a single passage to get to your 'favorite' part because on suite compliments the other.

My initial concerns of Pogo's non-involvement were also shattered. While it would've been nice to see Twiggy, Manson and Pogo all working on the same album, I had to remind myself that he isn't in the band anymore in order to focus on that facet of the music. This stuff is good, really good. Is it as great as everyone's been saying? I don't know, I haven't heard the full album yet. But if the pace of the songs I heard is maintained throughout the album, then yes, Manson is back in extremely fine form. I think in my initial early review of "Eat Me, Drink Me", or in the thread in which it was made, I voiced concern over receiving another album like it, in spite of how much I enjoyed it. But if Manson and company keep this up, I'll gladly take more and more stuff exactly like it.

Final score: 8 out of 10 (five tracks)