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Retaking The Throne4 Out Of 5 Stars
Sporting a deeper groove and riffs that would make a voodoo bluesman proud, Marilyn Manson takes back his seat at the table for "The Pale Emperor." With 2012's "Born Villain," Manson seemed to be getting his full swagger back, and here he takes full advantage of his place as elder statesman and lead crank in the old school of LA evil that Manson had as his own court back in the "Dope Show" days.
The sound is sleeker and more percussive than usual, adding menace where before might have been labored screaming. Manson, to his credit, still uses all sorts of voices for dramatic effect to get what he wants, but instead of hectic he goes for menacing. "Killing Strangers," "The Pale Emperor's" pulsing opening cut, sounds like it slithered its way out of some hell-hounded biker bar, made even more so by Manson's insistence that "we got guns, you better run" growled in a nasty fashion. He's no longer tethered to a media that demands that he produce a hit "single," leaving him to operate as an outsider of sorts in his advancing years.
I mean that in a good way. The man who was once blamed for mass school shootings now plies his trade in TV and movies along with his music. (His multi-episode stint on "Sons Of Anarchy" was actually kind of funny.) So he can be, as he puts it himself, "The Mephistopheles Of Los Angeles," all while sounding like he can still raise the devil when he wants to. He may sing that he's ready to meet his maker, but with "The Pale Emperor," Marilyn Manson still makes like he could scare that man off for a few more rounds. It's also been said that much of the album's songs were single takes. All the better to grit and glitter you with.
