Marilyn Manson has never really been subtle. While the rest of the world focuses on the onslaught of the Olympics, the music world's 'God of metal' has been busy climbing back up the charts with "No Reflection," the debut single from his latest album, Born Villian. The accompanying video, think gushing blood and celestial virgins being tortured, solidifies his reputation as music's most demonic character, but we find out that Manson never wanted to shock, but rather confuse his audience.
But as it turns out, the longer we spend in the company of Manson, the more we are shocked. Not by his pale make up, opaque eyes or satanic slurs, but by his fragility, honesty and shyness. When we ask about his exhibitionist tendencies and references to sadism, he explains they are merely the result of a cover up for his own insecurities. The man who has been hailed as the 'God of sex' and freely cavorts with naked women in his videos tells us how, due to crippling shyness, he will only have sex in the dark.
Credit: Agata Alexander
Even after appearing in an interview in Bowling for Columbine, director Michael Moore's film about the Columbine shootings, Manson still denies trying to influence the world. So what then actually disgusts him personally? The answer is ignorance. The man who's been accused of destroying social hegemony and tempered with good Christian behaviour in middle-America claims the world is cultivating its own pain. After centuries of colonizing the world, we're still messing with our fellow continent's cultures and this, so claims Manson, is a detrimental factor to society's values. Whether your views will be changed after a listen to Manson's new album is up to personal discretion and probably a large amount of debate, but we think that his quest to confuse the world for the better with this new release is one step closer to completion.
Text by Seyna Van Der Linden for Crane.tv
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