Marilyn Manson

Antichrist Superstar

Has its pros and cons

Review Score:

(6/10)
Antichrist Superstar is a concept album, which is a semi-autobiographical story focussing on the rise and fall of the character of Marilyn Manson. The overall theme of the CD is that of a young boy (who is a representation of Marilyn as a child) being forced by a corrupt society and a systematic program of indoctrination and abuse to turn into a horrifying creature.

There is a high degree of factuality in the album, especially owing to the song "Kinderfeld", which details the young Marilyn being abused by his grandfather (this actually happened).

The album succeeds on many levels. It is extremely deep conceptually, with the character of the Antichrist Superstar and how it originated, being based upon the concept of the Overman. Furthermore, the transformation can actually be felt, and as the album rolls along to its tragic conclusion (which is the fictional element of the storyline), you develop such empathy with the characters. The theme of the album, being "You are your own god, grab the power for yourself and do not let some church make the decisions for you" is extremely well developed. On the basis of concept and theme, it manages to be one of the most brilliant albums ever.

However, there is one level on which it fails: Music! I do not enjoy incredibly loud music so this album did not work for me on a musical level. In all honesty, it sounds like a chainsaw! The only songs that work musically (for me) are "Tourniquet" and "The Beautiful People", "Antichrist Superstar" and "The Reflecting God", all of which are varied in their construction, avoiding endless metal assaults (whilst most of the other tracks are either ballads or guitar-driven metal).

Overall, if you want music only, than think twice before you purchase this, unless you are a fan of metal music. However, if you are looking for extremely deep, emotional, dark, philosophical and brilliant works, and do not mind having your ears ripped off whilst a sledgehammer is smashing you on the back of the head by the music then I would reccomend this.

Even though I do not like it much musically, the conceptual brilliance of this album is stunning.

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