Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me

Not that I'm doing any band promotion, since this slot's reserved for Mr. Manson himself, but Scottish The Fratellis just said it all..."creepin' up the backstairs, mother's nightmare." Brrrr, I feel the exciting and thrilling sensation crawling down my spine as I push play and venture into the dark and eerie world of one of industrial shock-rock's most noticeable names. Being both feared and cherished, Brian Hugh Warner has poked to vast majorities of teenage rebels worldwide, with his frightening appearance and the rumors that has been following him ever since his shock-rocking debut back in 1989 with his “Spooky Kids”. Which brings me to some other partially relevant fact before the review is kicked off, no; Marilyn Manson did not receive a rib-bone removing operation so he could take a closer look at his genitals. I’m sad to puncture another fanatic’s wet dream, but that’s just one of the fine tricks of the rock reviewing industry. Nevertheless, let’s see what the cat dragged in this time.

After my virgin tour through Manson’s newest release “Eat Me, Drink Me”, I sat back with numerous impressions, some confusion but at the same time also amazement. It’s almost completely peculiar to me that a Danish music magazine like Gaffa could send this grotesque artist off with the tagline: “…the weakest album from the notorious Manson’s hand.” I’m not throwing my gauntlet at a fellow Danish reviewer, but even though a great part of the album may seem weak music-wise, the way Marilyn Manson proclaims his emotional self-projection through his lyrics, is more than powerful enough for me to add some medals to Manson’s dark uniform for tracks like “Putting Holes into Happiness”, “Are You The Rabbit?” and “Evidence”. Of course, there’s a fine line between a reviewer’s subjective and objective thoughts and even a larger gap between what should be valued more than the other, but I simply sense more hidden power in Manson’s sixth studio album. On the contrary though, the album in general severely needs more than “Heart-Shaped Glasses” to glorify the “Eat Me, Drink Me’s” instrumental energy. Even though we’re finely introduced to the album by the welcoming track “If I Was Your Vampire”, the track builds up and at the same time breaks down the craving for a new “The Fight Song” or “The Beautiful People”. Sadly, we have to bitterly accept that Manson’s newest release has not focused on adding some really catching sounds to the album, but when taking his focus on his inner self in perspective it mostly evens up.

Even though “Eat Me, Drink Me” is not something that you’ll associate with his past shock-rocks, Marilyn Manson has properly devoted an album to pulling out a Freudian nightmare of subconscious feelings and life experiences into the light, exposing them thoroughly to the public in the process. All in all, “Eat Me, Drink Me” is a mixed experience with some musical downs, but with solid emotional ups in form of the lyrical professionalism he manages to handle once again. And this almost evens out the lack of pure ear hangers. But be aware when recommending this to new listeners, since this release could be a more interesting experience if they have got to know a little thing or two about Marilyn Manson’s past musical style before venturing directly into the soul of obscurity’s manifestation. [7]