If you go to YouTube to watch any of the new Marilyn Manson videos, you'll notice that the comments have been turned off. I'd say that speaks volumes. Just as telling is the fact that Manson has done very little to promote One Assassination Under God outside of touring. No interviews means no wiggle room for journalists to ask uncomfortable questions. Make no mistake, this is all premeditated. These plans have been carefully laid out to suppress any potential noise that might get in the way of releasing new music. And so far, so good. Manson's devotees are all about it from the looks of things. Allegations? What allegations?
As a listener, I would be conflicted if this album was genuinely spellbinding. First impressions being what they are, don't take my word as gospel (lolz), but what I'm hearing could be described as A.I. Marilyn Manson. Stylistically, everything is stripped back. Songwriting is basic and repetitive. He's certainly not doing anything new here, although it's worth pointing out that he won't have to break new ground to please the die-hards. Lyrically, he seems to enjoy playing the victim, which is just hysterical. Don't you know he's a martyr? He doesn't have to accept responsibility for anything. I can't imagine that he'll be able to dodge every legal arrow that comes his way, but again, so far, so good.
A quick note on a few of the tracks - "Nod if You Understand" is the only song that displays real grit. Nothing else is remotely heavy. "Sacrilegious" is a "Disposable Teens" knockoff, while "Meet Me in Purgatory" is phenomenally bland. You might be wondering why I listened at all. At one point, I was a staunch fan. The dude remains an interesting case study, if nothing else. I reviewed four of his albums, so I did want to chime in on One Assassination Under Todd (in-joke alert).
To be clear, I think he's a reprehensible dickbag. Yeah.
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