Marilyn Manson's 'One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1' - Album Review

Even by his high standards, the last few years have been controversial ones for Marilyn Manson. Whilst he has attracted, and to an extent courted, controversy all of his career - up until a few years ago this tended to be of the 'think of the children!'-type from hysteric do-gooders scared of anything different to the norm. He has certainly faced plenty of pressure from 'the establishment' over the years, particularly in America, due to his counterculture music and image - and there was a period of time fairly early on in his career where it felt like someone was forever trying to link him to every national tragedy going. In recent years, though, Manson's controversy has been much more serious and personal - as he has been accused by a number of women of sexual assault and other crimes. Whilst nothing formal has really come from these accusations as of yet, with some of the cases having been dropped and others potentially revealed to be spurious and orchestrated, it nevertheless remains a serious cloud for Manson - and at least one case has been settled out of court which perhaps suggests that he did not want certain things to be aired in public. Euphemistically, Manson has lived a rather decadent lifestyle which perhaps was going to catch up with him at some point. I am not alleging any wrongdoing here, and I have not been following the stories closely, but this controversy, rightly or wrongly, was likely always going to be something that would play out at some point. I bring it up for context, though, and to note that Manson has not really had much of career at all over the past few years. He released his last album We Are Chaos (which I reviewed here) in September 2020, so he was unable to tour it due to the pandemic, and the first set of allegations against him were made a few months later - which led to his record label dropping him and his career was essentially put on ice. Apart from statements relating to the allegations, then, we heard very little from Manson until earlier this year - when he started to hint at a return. 2024 has been quite a big year for Manson, as he undertook his first tour since 2019 - as part of a big American trek with Five Finger Death Punch, which included a few headline shows along the way. The reviews from the first show onward were excellent - with many saying that the performances were some of his best for many years. Having lost quite a lot of weight and had a break from the road, he looked and sounded better than he had for probably around a decade - and I am looking forward to seeing him live for the first time when he comes to the UK next year. Crucially, too, 2024 also saw his return to releasing new music - with his twelfth studio album One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1 dropping last month. Given the title I assume that there is more to come in due course, but the 44 minute long album feels like a vital piece of work. Following working with different people on We Are Chaos, One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1 sees him writing again with multi-instrumentalist and producer Tyler Bates - whom Manson last worked with on 2015's The Pale Emperor (which I reviewed here) and 2017's Heaven Upside Down (which I also reviewed here). Both of those albums had more of an organic, blues-based sound, but this latest release feels more like classic Manson - with plenty of shades of 1998's Mechanical Animals throughout - as well as continuing on the relatively heavier sound of We Are Chaos, too.

Bates is responsible for essentially everything here musically, with the exception of the drums which are performed by the returning Gil Sharone (Stolen Babies; The Dillinger Escape Plan) - completing the trio which recorded the 2015 and 2017 releases. Bates and Sharone also returned to Manson's live band this year, with newcomers Reba Meyers (Code Orange) on guitar and Piggy D. on bass guitar (Amen; Wednesday 13; Rob Zombie) - although neither contributed to the album. The nine-track album gets underway with its title track, and the song opens up with some retro-sounding organ and other keyboards - under which a subtle drum loop starts and over which Manson starts to sing. Whilst his live performances in recent years have been patchy, he has always sounded strong on his albums - and his voice during these opening moments sounds great. His trademark spooky vibe is conjured up by his deeper, slow delivery over the aforementioned keyboards - and once the drums proper and some guitars kick in for the chorus he lets rip a little more, in melodic Mechanical Animals mode. In fact, this song generally feels like a hark back to that album - with heavier guitars continuing throughout the rest of the song although without the real metallic crunch of some of Manson's heaviest work. There is a strong atmospheric vibe throughout, although Sharone does lay down some pretty metallic drum beats at times - with machine gun-esque snare and bass drum work during a couple of hard-hitting instrumental sections, one of which contains a pretty tortured guitar solo. The last moments of the song are heavier, though, with Manson unleashing his first big scream of the album, which leads into another guitar solo - this one more melodic - before a tougher final chorus sees the song come to a close. No Funeral Without Applause is somewhat similar, which is theme throughout this album. Manson's best works have generally had coherent vibes from start to finish, and I think that this album generally sticks to a formula which works. A jagged clean guitar melody sets an early tone this time, though, whilst spooky synths add some flashes of melody in the background - whilst Manson again starts to sing against the sparse backing. The song overall a bit heavier than the opening cut, though. There is a punky feel to some of Sharone's drum beats, particularly during the upbeat chorus, whilst other moments feel more percussive and primal thanks to an organic drum sound and more of a guitar focus. Slow-moving yet screeching guitar leads which really hark back to Manson's past fill this track, particularly during the chorus, whilst a lot of the synth tones are also akin to some of his best work. Whilst Manson might not be as furious these days, there is certainly plenty of his classic atmosphere here - and the song's chorus has a monotonous memorability. Nod if You Understand is a bit more to the point, and it rocks harder from the outset. There are a few scene-setting synths early on, but this part of the track is short-lived, and instead the song is a punky hard rocker with driving guitars from Bates and some hard-hitting Sharone drumming. The main guitar riffs here are memorable and create a strong energy, whilst Manson sings in a more fast-paced manner - including a few more venomous whispers and screams, with the latter dominating a powerful chorus. The song does slow down a little later on, via a doomy riff, but this feeling does not hang around - as a faster bassline soon takes back over.

The creepier vibe of the early part of the album returns during As Sick as the Secrets Within - the song with which Manson relaunched his career with a few months ago. It kick started this new era nicely, and harks back somewhat to the other Bates-led albums, alongside a few more Mechanical Animals-esque vibes. The song reminds me a bit of I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me), if it had been slowed down a little and made more atmospheric. There are heavy guitars, but they tend to sit in the background and create a strong tapestry, with the main melodies here coming from Manson himself and plenty of treated guitar leads which are filled with hooks and effects - again recalling Manson's heyday. Atmospheric synths and the occasional industrial synth lead fill out the rest of the song - and it is one of the best songs here at really creating a vibe. This is emphasised later during a slower, piano-led section (courtesy of Lola Colette) which sees Manson reducing his voice to something of a harsh whisper - before the gothic chorus kicks back in with Bates' guitar leads and Manson's repetitive, smoky vocals. Sacrilegious reins in much of the album's atmospheric feel and goes for a harder rock edge - with industrial-sounding drum grooves and buzzing guitar riffs. The glam rock-esque stomp of Mechanical Animals is very much repurposed here, and it is fitting that the album's shortest piece is its most simple. The punk vibe of the album's previous heavier moments is not really present here, with the overall vibe being one of old-school hard rock. There are strong rock grooves throughout, despite the drums feeling less organic than they do elsewhere, whilst Bates' guitar tone feels warmer - and his bass playing is pretty prominent. Synths are generally used in a more supporting capacity this time - and Manson's vocal performance generally feels less treated and creepy, with snappy chorus hooks and plenty of natural character. Sometimes Manson excels when he does something simple - and this fun song is an example of such. Death Is Not a Costume returns to the album's core sound, though, and feels like much more of a slow-burner following the driving rocker which came before. Opening synths set a creepy tone, before a percussive drum loop creates a simple beat early on. The drumming here feels like a mixture of loops, electronic drums, and real drums, which has been a classic Manson trope over the years, whilst the song itself is pretty bass-focused. Again, the bass has often been a key instrument for Manson's band, particularly during slower songs. The pulsing bass gives this song a lot of character, whilst the synths shimmer in and out to create an atmospheric backing and chiming guitar additions and bluesy leads flesh out the arrangement. There is something quite cinematic about the song as a whole, too, which is aided by Manson's expressive vocal performance - which hypnotically sits atop the sonic tapestry which Bates has created beneath him.

Another somewhat more rocking piece is Meet Me in Purgatory. This is a much more organic piece overall, and it feels like a more expansive take on the sound found throughout Sacrilegious. The synths are once again generally pushed to the background, although they open up the song in fine fashion and flash in and out as needed throughout. The song is much more guitar-driven as a result, then, with a memorable guitar lead opening things up and acting as a repeating motif throughout. As mentioned before, though, there is again a strong bass presence during the track. This sees some of the punk vibes mentioned earlier return, but the song is not as frantic. The pace is more controlled and that 1970s glam rock stomp is back - but the bass gives the song more potency, especially when it is joined by some chugging power chords. The chorus is a bit more playful and poppy, though, with synths adding some fluid melodies against Manson's hooky vocal lines - with later choruses feeling a bit more intense, too, with rawer vocals and a bit more urgency. Raise the Red Flag was another advance single, and it was designed to showcase the heavier side of the album in contrast to the more atmospheric side shown off by As Sick as the Secrets Within. The song is not the heaviest here, but it certainly has an old-school industrial grind to it thanks to some pretty dirty guitar tones and a hard-hitting drum beat. Cold synths add flourishes of further darkness, but there is a classic Manson approach to hooks here - with the song being pretty memorable despite the song's overall grinding nature. Vocally, the song sees Manson doing a few different things - with a good mix of more intense, shouted sections and those which feature his creepy whispered approach. Whilst the song certainly feels more rooted in Manson's modern work, there are certain production techniques and sounds which recall his early days working with Trent Reznor. This song is not as heavy as those songs - but some of the tones and synth sounds are of that time, which provide further links to the past. The album then comes to a close with Sacrifice of the Mass, which is a much more slow-burning piece overall and the album's longest song at just over six minutes. Cold synths create a suitable tone early on, and the song takes a little bit of time to get going, but given the general brevity of the rest of the album this is no bad thing. The synths set a creepy tone, over which acoustic guitar and Manson's effects-heavy voice are soon laid. The song is very ballad-esque, then, and it generally retains its acoustic base even when other sounds join in - including an early chorus which features drums and some high-pitched vocals from Manson. At one point it feels as if the song is building towards something heavier, with some repetitive vocal melodies and a doomy guitar chug, but it is a bit of a false alarm - as the acoustic-based chorus is returned to instead, before Bates launches into a strange and surprisingly lengthy guitar solo. This is the last big moment on the album, but the acoustic coda which follows features some plaintive Manson vocals - with the album closing on this quiet note. Over the last month or so I have been enjoying my time with One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1, and it is potentially Manson's best work for a number of years. The brevity is welcome and there are a number of memorable songs here which generally stick to a vibe despite the pace shifting throughout. One assumes there is more to come and that this album is planned to be part of a series - and I am already looking forward to what is next.

The album was released on 22nd November 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is Manson's promotional video for As Sick as the Secrets Within.