Marilyn Manson - The High End of Low

Title: The High End of Low
Artist: Marilyn Manson
Genre: Metal/Rock
Release Date: 22nd May 2009
Label: Interscope Records / Universal



Album Review

What can be said about MARILYN MANSON? A wide range of things actually most popular topic would have to be his way with his music and twisting the minds of teenagers alike turning them into completely inside out. Hundreds of parents disapprove of their kids listening to this artist's music because of his undecided sexuality and overall lyrics. But let's move past the bad and onto the good sides of Manson's work. His music isn't all that bad and evil as so many claim it to be...

If it was so bad he probably would have quit a long time ago, but that wasn't his choice, because he is on seventh studio album believe it or not, ‘The High End Of Low’, consisting of 15 tracks of classic MANSON noise from beginning to end. Opening tune ‘Devour’ slithers its way through making a lot of noise then breaks away into a guitar strum up the neck which sounds gentle and serene very un-MANSON containing that upbeat post-hardcore style of Isis or Russian Circles. When MANSON’s voice joins in on the rest of the instruments, bass, guitars and drumming tactics the whole tune finally comes into play taking a rather long time to arrive. Rattling out in the end the usual MANSON style beatings just like his normal albums tend to do. Which lets us glide right on through the first set of tracks as they tend to sound a lot alike and doesn't really grab your attention, but when it comes to ‘I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies’ that stands out above the others and really maintains that MANSON vibration letting the creepy tones and beatings of the drumming roll right on through as the vocals creep there way right along keeping up no problem.

So, the album pretty much has a lacking sensation not maintaining that glamour and sensation that MANSON is known to create but rather has a more drowning type of MANSON musical style that dreads on and on. When it comes down to ‘I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell’, it brings back again the old school MANSON beatings letting the instruments do their work and build up as Manson's vocal tones work up sending chills up and down your spine wrapping up the song having the remaining tracks not worthy of a listen. Having ‘The High End Of Low’, be a MARILYN MANSON classic but rather disappointment sounding exactly the same as each song carries right on through blending into one another. [natalie]

First of all! My knowledge of Manson’s musical work bases solely on a couple of songs from some of his earlier works so don’t expect me to bring you any comparisons about how this material is quality-wise or lyrically better than many of the previous outputs he released. What I found surprising is that ‘The High End of Low’ starts that calm with ‘Devour’ and first kicks the hell off with ‘Pretty as a Swastika’. Other pretty prominent tracks on the record striking with their otherness are for instance ‘Four Rusted Horses’ opening with a Western-style acoustic guitar and kind of a foot stomp beat and gloomy strings added later ‘I Wanna kill you like they do in the Movies’, a nine minutes long slowly creeping and progressing monster and the balladry ‘Into The Fire’ taking piano and orchestral strings to build a dramatic atmosphere later complemented with a little bit of drumming. Considering all this and a few more unnamed tracks I’m saying it’s actually a surprisingly good and diversified record and maybe I should explore Manson’s other works now as well. [sebastian]


Tracklist