Discussing ‘As Sick As The Secrets Within’ — Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson released ‘No Reflection’ as the lead single from his upcoming album ‘Born Villain’ in 2012, where we hear him sing “I don’t know which me that I love / I’ve got no reflection”. Fast forward to 2020 and he releases his 11th studio album, ‘We Are Chaos’, in which he describes each song on the album as chapters of the book — his most introspective yet, with both listener and creator looking inside themselves, with the album being represented by a stylised, distorted, painted self portrait on the cover. Then allegations from ex-girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood began to surface and all hell broke loose: band members cut ties, Loma Vista dropped Manson from their record label roster, the general public demanded for his cancellation and everything went cold. Silent, with barely any movement and activity over the course of four years. Would Manson ever release an album or tour again? Loyal fans stood by, waiting in the wings for an answer.
July 24th 2024, a leak surfaces online claiming a new single would be coming from Marilyn Manson in nine days time. Those loyal fans began to go crazy as the moment they were waiting for was finally in their sights, except there had been no official confirmation. Even in the days leading up to it, despite a few cryptic posts from Manson and his collaborators, the words “my new single is being released on Friday” were never posted. I think tension and anxiety were running high, wondering if this leak would be proven true or false. Until, on the night of August 1st, people in New Zealand started to use their time zone difference to their advantage. Posts were made on the dedicated Marilyn Manson subreddit, showing how this new single was in fact real, and it had just landed on Spotify and YouTube. Fans rushed to share it around or took advantage of a free VPN trial to hear it, eager to hear Manson’s first music in four years.
At midnight in the UK (where I’m from), ‘As Sick As The Secrets Within’ went live. Marilyn Manson’s first single under Nuclear Blast Records, after a contract was signed a few months prior, which then produced a teaser video featuring snippets from this song and its companion music video. I was surprised to see the single was so long, as the last thing I expected for a comeback single was to be over five minutes in duration. What really struck me was the single cover. A broken shard of mirror held in Marilyn Manson’s tattooed hand, with him not only staring the observer directly in the face, but himself as well. Over the course of twelve year’s he has gone from having “no reflection” to releasing an introspective album, to now staring us and himself in the face. Declaring “you’re only as sick as the secrets within you”. At 2:39pm (UK time), Manson finally posted an acknowledgement of his new single, saying it’s “a personal look into my life & I’m proud to be able to share my art and vision with you”, with a brand new music video attached to it, directed by longtime collaborator Billy Yukich. After four long years, we’re witnessing the return of the king.
The Song:
When the recent allegations began to swirl on the social media sphere, the thing I wanted most was for Manson to come back harder than ever. To release a new album that cuts as hard and as deep as ‘Holywood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)’ from 2000. That was released following Manson being scapegoated as the cause of the Columbine massacre, with various visual and lyrical elements referencing or addressing it. ‘Holywood’ was his response and, to me, his/their greatest album yet. So with such intense heat on his back, I wanted him to recapture that anger and creativity. In the years between music we’d get the occasional look at Manson, and some were saying how he looks “just like he did in the Holywood days”, so I was hopeful.
Once the single dropped, the sonic atmosphere was being compared to almost every previous era — one of my favourite comments I’ve seen says it’s “if Valentines Day was written during Mechanical Animals”. But it sounds like a brand new Manson from my ears, one we’ve not heard before. And it makes sense after taking so long away from the limelight alongside doing personal work on himself. It opens with a thrashing guitar riff before the drums start to pound, with some electronics creating an atmosphere behind the wall of noise. A call to attention before the vocals come in, again sounding unlike any Manson we’ve heard before. The vocals sound much more clean and pure when compared to previous vocals, like the end of ‘15’ from ‘The High End of Low’ (2009), with them going to much higher places as you reach the middle of the song, before dropping to an eerie whisper at the conclusion. And adding to this new sound are bridges of electronic leads, sounding like a blend between futurism and hypnotism. With Tyler Bates back in the band and producing the single (thank god because I’ve missed that man), the electronics make sense as one of his most recent projects is the soundtrack to the film ‘MaXXXine’.
The title of the song refers to a mantra used within the rehabilitation journey, which is “we’re only as sick as our secrets”. As Manson said on his social media regarding the song, it’s “a personal look into [his] life”, and there’s no denying the song is at least mainly about his past troubles with addiction. In the intervening years fans have said how he looks healthier and better, and when he took to the stage last night (02/08/2024), Manson introduced himself as “a drug addict”. The pre-chorus in particular stands out as Manson sings “A reason for me / for me to gеt by / Became a need / a need to get high”, referencing his dependency on drugs. In the verse before that he sings “I built this cage we’ve been trapped in together / Can’t remember where I hid the keys”, another acknowledgement of his addiction and the “cage” it’s created around him, with a struggle to “find the keys” to escape it. He later goes on to describe it as a “beast calling for us” and “slowly assuming control” in the chorus.
Though the song is obviously about addiction and recovery, part of me feels you could read the lyrics from a standpoint of being trapped within your reputation. Because of drug addiction or whatever other demons he has faced previously, he’s “built this cage” which he — and by extension his fanbase — has become “trapped in together”. Now as a grown, recovering, married man he’s trying to find “the keys” to liberate us. Guilty or innocent, there is a dark cloud over the name Marilyn Manson, with anybody who still supports him getting side eyed and (perhaps understandably) questioned from those who believe he’s 100% guilty. But I personally believe people can do bad things in their past, but grow and change and better themselves. To atone the past to live a better, brighter, healed future. So now, not only is Manson addressing his addiction and showing us he’s in a better place, it feels as though he’s working on clearing his and our names. With the release of ‘As Sick As The Secrets Within’, how new and different it sounds, it feels as though Marilyn Manson is born again. The angel has spread his wings.
The Video:
Even though I’m driving the point of ‘Secrets Within’ being a “brand new, healed Marilyn Manson”, there is still some of our Pale Emperor that remains the same and unchanged. Seeing the accompanying music video made me well up with tears because creepy Manson is back; the same person who made the ‘Tourniquet’ music video is still releasing unsettling imagery. There’s also imagery that’s more positive, like the clips of Manson working on his artwork in a white shirt, with white often symbolising purity and simplicity, possibly showing how he feels safer and more comfortable when working on his art. Juxtaposed with an image of him in all black and laying on a bed with red sheets, it’s a lot darker, with imagery of voids and blood coming to mind. One thing that stood out in particular was how Manson is barefoot in these clips, which symbolise humility but also wisdom. Not only is he addressing his public image and reputation as of late, he’s simultaneously showing how he’s grown and improved.
Throughout the video we see Manson in, what appears to be, a cocoon of some sort. Or you could compare it to a womb. Trembling and singing along while covered in a slimy, fleshy substance before breaking out of it fully clothed at the end. My immediate thought when seeing this was the idea of rebirth, truly being born again, and ready to take on this new era/chapter of not just his life but his career as well. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of the flames that came before. There’s also clips of an octopus littered throughout the video too, writing and wriggling, which added to the creepiness and unsettling factor for me. As pointed out on the Manson subreddit, an octopus symbolises adaptability, resilience, creativity and intuition. Not only is Manson’s creativity on full display via the video itself but through him working on his artwork. And the resilience is on show from the fact that, despite the allegations, his past and addiction, he is still carrying on and working to better himself. But the octopus clips have garnered a conversation of their own as, apparently, they were created using AI and not shot with a real, live octopus. I just though that was worth a mention considering AI has also been at the middle of large and important separate conversations.
Last night Marilyn Manson took to the stage for the first of a 31 date tour across America, before coming to Europe in February 2025 — where I will be seeing him in London, and I hope to do a concert review of it next Feb. For the setlist of the show he consulted his back catalogue, playing “the hits”, and a few songs for the first time since 2019, but there was no sign of his new single released that day. It was disappointing and strange, but fans have pointed out how it was at a festival so it’s kind of understandable. Plus there is a month worth of touring left for new and different songs to be played, and for an album to (hopefully) be announced. Over on his respective social media, drummer Gil Sharone has shared that he’s back in Marilyn Manson’s band and featured on the latest single. As previously mentioned, Tyler Bates produced the new single and is also playing guitar on stage with him again. It makes me so happy to see these key players of when I became a fan in late 2016 back in the fold, working on new music and helping Manson bring it to life around the West. And now we impatiently wait for the album to arrive.
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