Heaven Upside Down

The album kicks off with the hulking "Revelation #12" -- stabbing like "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" twisted through Portrait's organ grinder -- which forces listeners to choose a side at the end of the world. The explosive "We Know Where You Fucking Live" is the most overtly political statement on an album that could have actually benefited from more of the firebrand's outspoken wit, but it pulverizes nonetheless. The pulsing "Kill4Me" flaunts its Bowie flair, while "Say10" takes its time with destruction, a slow burner that builds to a crushing chorus that would have fit perfectly on Holy Wood. Album centerpiece "Saturnalia" is an eight-minute epic that rides an elastic bass throb -- courtesy of patient and forgiving sidekick Twiggy Ramirez -- through a swamp of Manson-isms like "just smile like a rifle" and the appropriate-in-1999 warning of "I was invited to eat the young." "Je$u$ Cri$i$" continues to ride Twiggy's bass groove as Manson fully embraces his persona with the tasteless but catchy "I write songs to fight and to fuck to/If you wanna fight, then I'll fight you/If you wanna fuck, I will fuck you." The album closes on a trio of introspection, the spiritual siblings to peak-era favorite "Coma White." Of these, "Blood Honey" is a grand moment that finds Manson taking a vulnerable look at his life, lamenting "I'm not being mean, I'm just being me," offering an intense peek at his emotional turmoil and damaging addictions. "Heaven Upside Down" is the de facto close to the album, with "Threats of Romance" the so-called final credits music where Manson reveals "I like you damaged/But I need something left...for me to wreck." For all his pain and suffering, he needs it to feel real in the end. Heaven Upside Down is Manson at his most human. If Pale Emperor was a welcome return to form that signaled a new day for the band, its successor is just as satisfying, if not better.