So Marilyn Manson releases Antichrist Superstar, and what can i say, this is the album that made me realize what industrial rock could really be, hehehe, these guys went from the weird gothic alt-rock of Portrait of an American Family and Smells Like Children to this full blown conceptual nightmare, and damn if it doesn’t work.
This thing hits you right from the get go with “Irresponsible Hate Anthem,” and fuck me if it doesn’t feel like a proper introduction to what’s coming, heavy as hell with that creepy industrial backbone, “i wasn’t born with enough middle fingers”, now that’s the kind of opening statement that gets your attention. “The Beautiful People” is the one everyone knows, the MTV single that brought this madness to the masses, and honestly it’s still a banger, reminds me of Ministry but with more pop sensibilities, industrial rock for the kids who want to piss off their parents.
But then you get into the real twisted shit with “Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World,” and man this track is uncomfortable in the best possible way, screechy and unsettling until that chorus kicks in with “i am anything when i’m high”, it’s like being pulled into some kind of sonic horror movie. “Tourniquet” works like a twisted ballad, “take your hatred out on me” delivered with that perfect mix of vulnerability and menace that only Manson could pull off at the time.
The whole Cycle II thing gets even weirder with “Little Horn”, what the hell is “there is an apple in the pussy mouth” supposed to mean anyway, hahahaha, but it works as this degraded followup to the opening anthem, more distorted and raw. “Cryptorchid” brings in these amazing electronic interludes, pulling you deeper into this cryptic nightmare with lines like “the rule has now eclipsed the sun, but the angel has spread its wings” – it’s all so mysterious and creepy, exactly what this concept needed.
“Wormboy” might be the best track on here, this weird descent into madness with the catchiest fucking chorus – “I KNOW IT IS EVERYTHING THEY SAID IT WAS I KNOW I AM ALL THE THINGS THEY SAID I WAS” – and then it just dissolves into this whispered creepiness that sounds like something from their earlier stuff. It’s headbanging and unsettling at the same time, which is pretty much Manson’s sweet spot. “Mister Superstar” builds to this fantastic crescendo ending with “hey Mr Superstar i’ll kill you if i can’t have you”, even with all the weirdness it’s still somehow catchy as hell.
The final cycle gets even more unhinged with the title track “Antichrist Superstar”, starts with the most fascist intro ever, hahahaha, but it’s clearly a parody, the whole thing is chaos but in a controlled way, like a full performance art piece mocking authoritarianism. “The Reflecting God” is another standout, “the world is an ashtray” leading into pure industrial madness with “WHEN I’M GOD EVERYONE DIES!!!”, it’s got everything you want, it’s pop, it’s metal, it’s electronic, it’s gothic, it’s completely decadent and hateful in the best way.
Look, this album is almost perfect, even the interludes and fillers add to the experience instead of dragging it down. Yeah, at the time people were calling Manson a satanist and all that moral panic bullshit, and sure the guy himself turned out to be a bit of a prick in real life, hehehe, and the band was apparently a mess during recording, but fuck! The album itself is incredible. If you like rock or metal at all, this is essential listening. It’s everything a teenage metalhead could ever want, conceptual, heavy, creepy, catchy, and completely uncompromising.