MARILYN MANSON: ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR

SCORE: 98/100


As soon as 'Irresponsible Hate Anthem' kicks in, Manson's second studio album is a hard one to resist. It has the delightfully sporadic sound you would expect from him brought up by at least ten notches - with sounds loud enough to blow your speakers out, 'Antichrist Superstar' is a much more loud and daring project than one might expect; even for Manson's standards.

It's a gorgeous showcase of the heaviest sides of industrial rock - the sides that are murky and hard to define due to their sharp edges and hard-hitting sound. Manson pushes and bends the curve of rock with his second album, showcasing his massive skillset as a vocalist while being backed by stunningly layered and fleshed out instrumentals that bring his music to a new high - there's something captivating about the album, each sound reeling you in to another beautiful nightmare through jagged soundscapes and loud instrumentals. 

From the more melodic track to the metal messes, 'Antichrist Superstar' covers just about every base when it comes to alternative/industrial metal. His style is very clearly down pact - his consistency through the rough and his sound established more on each track. There is a huge sense of both variety and cohesiveness within the project; with the songs coming together delightfully well without feeling repetitive. 

The album perfectly showcases the wrath of Marilyn Manson and how well they played together as a band - with the crisp and edgy 90s-metal sound coming through to make the album feel deeply consistent and enjoyable at its core. The lyrical work is exactly what you would want from the band - and so is the instrumental work. It feels richly like a Marilyn Manson album while being comparable to other similar bands - all while keeping the uniqueness of the band very much in tact.

It's a delightfully formatted and put together concept album without it feeling "too" obvious - making the album more worthwhile to dig deeper into rather than just tossing it aside as another metal album. It's more than just a metal album; it's a stellar showcase of what made Marilyn Manson so great at their prime as well as a display of their style, sound, and storytelling through musical adventures. 

Manson makes even the longest of albums fly by - with the tracks being gripping enough to keep attention high, keeping the album entertaining to listen to and making for a project that works both in and out of context. The songs work just as well on their own as they do on the album in most cases, with the tracks having different moods and tones that are suitable for different tastes. 

It's a highly ambitious project that doesn't let up for even a second, and it showcases all sides of the spectrum when it comes to the music of Marilyn Manson. The length just flies by for how long the album is, and the variety of different sounds and tones make it an album you simply cannot miss out on.

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