Album review: MARILYN MANSON – We Are Chaos

Loma Vista Recordings [Release date 11.09.20]

Marilyn Manson certainly doesn’t disappoint with album number eleven “We Are Chaos”, in fact, I would go so far as to say that this is currently my favourite Manson record to date.

Produced by Manson alongside Shooter Jennings, they have created an album that blends industrial rock with an 80’s electronic rock feel (something that Manson is so good at injecting into his music), lyrically rich and with plenty of sonic push and pull. There is also a great feel of Bowie in there, I’m thinking along the lines of “Cat People” here and interestingly this is a song that Manson has previously collaborated on with Jennings on the latter’s “Countach” album.

Opening track “Red, Black and Blue” contains all the above influences and is a massive opener, this is followed by the album’s title track which, in contrast, has an almost bright acoustic intro and has the feel of a big soundtrack, along with a great chorus. This moves nicely into “Don’t Chase The Dead”, a more 80’s orientated song that weirdly has an almost U2 feel to it at times. “Paint You With My Love” is a slower, sparse yet effective song, with “Half-Way & One Step Forward” opening with piano and again slower before building up into what I would consider a fitting ending to what feels like the first side of the album.

“Infinite Darkness” is on familiar Manson ground with a darker and industrial sound and this continues on “Perfume”, which has a kind of industrial blues vibe to it. “Keep My Head Together” has some great 80’s touches to it that are reminiscent of Depeche Mode, and also features some of my favourite guitar work on “We Are Chaos”. Then comes “Solve Coagula”, another slower and sparser track, another song that is perfect for a soundtrack somewhere, this song is again bluesy and is beautifully textured – a highlight, not only of this album, but of Manson’s entire musical back catalogue.

The album is closed by the excellent “Broken Needle”, the perfect track to do this as it really does feel like it could be the last song on earth – you’re going to have to take my word for this until you hear it for yourself.

You can probably tell that I quite like “We Are Chaos”, it has been the perfect antidote to the actual chaos that we are all currently facing. *****

Review by Nikk Gunns

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