The only way to go was down. Set to begin work on the album that would scare
lift out of the status quo, the band descended upon New Orleans, "the closest
place to Hell on earth,"according to Manson. Trent Reznor, in his customarily
morbid style, had chosen a former funeral home as the site of his new
state-of-the-art Nothing Studios. And what better spot for Marilyn Manson`s
newest, most dangerous experiment to date? The band set out to bring themselves
to the brink of insanity, dabbling in near-death experiences and plain endurance
rituals, and pushing themselves to musical and mental limits. The outcome,
an album brazenly entitled Antichrist Superstar, was not reached without
sacrifice.
Before the end of the recording venture, Daisy Berkowitz announced that he was leaving the band. Whether it was his unwillingness to go along with the band`s desire to experiment musically (and otherwise) on the new album or his reluctance to dive headlong into the Marilyn Manson Land of No Return, Daisy, it seemed, had had enough. "We really tapped into the subconscious-staying up four days in a row, sleep deprivation, all sorts of unmentionable acts of self-torture. These things, I guess, were real alien to Daisy. He wasn`t into making life into art. He looked at it more as a job, whereas we embraced life and art as one," Marilyn told Guitar World in December 1996. Although he and Berkowitz were the founding members and had made it together through the swamps of Florida to the Grand Canyon-esque brink of fame and, ideally, worldwide domination, the relationship between the two had become increasingly "turbulent." As Manson rationalized, "There`s always been an element of friction there--one of those singer/guitar player tension things. But in our case, it never really jelled into a good working dynamic." Manson`s official statement on the split explained that the recording of the album was "difficult as it involves many trips dangerously close to chaos. . . . Unfortunately Berkowitz had grown creatively in a different direction, and left the band as we were beginning this projects. We wish him success but plan to leave this situation stronger than ever." Daisy`s own statement said, "Marilyn Manson have been together for six years and I believe that now the time is right for me to concentrate on my own music and other projects of special interest. I wish the best for Marilyn Manson." He has since been rumored to be working on a new musical venture under the name three Ton Gate.
Wasting no time, the remaining Manson family put ads out for a new guitarist. Zim Zum, who for all intents and purposes may be a very stylish mute with killer guitar skills, remains a bit of a mystery. The only hardcore evidence that he did not drop from the heavens is his documented participation in the Chicago band Life, Sex and Death. One can`t help but wonder if his not having taken the usual Marilyn Manson-esque moniker is an indication of superior or inferior standing as a fledgling. The only clue thus far is Manson`s statement to Circus magazine that Zim Zum "joined Antichrist Superstar more than he joined Marilyn Manson." The name Zim Zum is certainly mysterious, and can be traced to the term for "extraction" in the hebrew Cabala (God "extracting" himself from space in order to allow Creation to take place). As the Reverend himself put it to Alternative Press in February 1997, the name Zim Zum comes from that of "an angel that was created to do God`s dirty work in the Old Testament days." Manson insisted that when Zim Zum auditioned, "before he even began playing I felt like he`d be the right guy. I like his confidence and his attitude." Daisy Berkowitz was credited as a writer and guitarist on the new album, with Zim Zum down as "live guitarist for Antichrist Superstar." The fact that he survived the recording sessions alone seems to be an indication that he was meant to be part of the band as they headed toward their new millennium.
The ambience in Nothing Studios must have been bizarre beyond comprehension; Twiggy Ramirez found it worth comment. As he told Circus in July 1996, "A lot of the staff is a little weird. A lot of them wear, I don`t know if it`s a uniform or what, but they wear gray wings with clip-on earrings. It`s a bit odd, but I guess it`s part of the atmosphere." Trent himself apparently tool to donning a Quiet Riot mask whilst mixing the album. The members of Marilyn Manson added their own touch of madness-aside from the obvious of course--by setting up tents in the middle of the studio, camping out amongst the recording gear like high-tech bedouins.
As for the much-speculated upon influence of drugs on the creation of Antichrist Superstar, Manson is characteristically straightforward. He confessed to Circus magazine in its June 17, 1997, issue that there was "a seemingly never ending supply of different drugs and pills in New Orleans, and it had a certain influence on the recording process," but stressed that it was more the otherworldly atmosphere of the city that inspired the sessions in the studio, recalling that "the smell of death and decay was everywhere and it certainly crept on the album. That was the most powerful influence ever. It made us realize just how much death is a natural part of life."
The music itself on the new album is a definite departure. Slick, skillful, and ultimately scarier, it presented the fully-realized potential of the Marilyn Manson machine. As Trent Reznor said in spin`s March 1997 issue, "I wanted to show that the band had some scope, that it wasn`t all guitar-bass-drums." Manson told Guitar World magazine in December 1996 that "We wanted to go to an outside source like Trent and have him put our vision together." He went on to declare, "We were in a different state of mind when we made that record. So sometimes we`re not even sure what we did. It was very stream-of-consciousness." As Twiggy mysteriously put forth to Circus in July 1996, Antichrist Superstar "was recorded in the future already, and it was sent back. So it`s already done, we just have to make it so people can hear it today. Because it`s not out yet. It`s the future, but it`s the past cause it`s really all the same. The record from the future, but it`s about the past--the past that hasn`t happened yet."
Antichrist Superstar, released on October 8, 1996, entered the chart at Number Three, finding itself in the unlikely company of Number One and Two acts Celine Dion and Kenny G. The sudden juxtaposition of an outfit led by a man Guitar World magazine called " profoundly ugly and violently disturbed" with the wholesome, soap and water goodness of the current God and Goodness of middle-of-the-road musical values caused the mainstream media to sit up and listen. Or, at least, give the freaks a cursory mention. Entertainment Weekly, in its October 25, 1996, edition, spotlighted the album in its Charts section, scoffing, "Antichrists, maybe; superstars, not yet," and went on to reassure their readers that the album, which described as Manson`s "latest lurid attempt to capture the hearts, mind and school lunch money of young America," would surely drop off the charts none too soon. The only problem was that the album, which sold 320,000 copies in its first week, was actually quite good. Rolling Stone featured Antichrist Superstar--along with a ghoulish cartoon of a worm with the Reverend Manson`s head winding its way through a garden of skulls and bones--in its November 28, 1996, "New Recordings" section. Awarding a respectable three and a half stars, the venerable music mag declared that the album "could make the group rock`s billion dollars babies."
The sixteen songs on the album tell the story of a worm that metamorphoses into an angel. They are divided into three segments, "Cycle I: The Heirophant," "Cycle II: Inauguration of the worm," and "Cycle III: Disintegration Rising." These songs present an older, darker, and more serious Marilyn Manson; one whose threat to take over the world had itself undergone a metamorphosis from childlike taunt to alarming promise. Opening with the line, "I am so all-American, I`d sell you suicide," in the track "Irresponsible Hate Anthem," the album is a relentless seventy-seven minute rampage whose quieter moments are even more ominous than its screams of terror. As Manson told Spin, "This record is about personal strength and by seeing my own death and learning from it is where I obtain that strength."
Manson explores his own subconscious through touching upon his own experiences. The song "Kinderfeld" was inspired by his grandfather--a truck driver who, according to family myth, was caught out upon arrival at the hospital after an accident wearing women`s lingerie under his clothes--who used to masturbate while running his train set in the basement. Manson, who admitted to Q magazine that "just thinking about it gives me a chill," described his most recent visit to his grandmother, who still lives in the house she shared with his now-deceased grandfather, when he ventured don the basement stairs to find that "the train set was still there and there were all there rusty paint cans hanging from the ceiling. I opened them and they`re still filled with 16mm porno movies." "Tourniquet" ("She`s made of hair and bone and little teeth/And things I cannot speak") recounts his recurring dream of creating a companion for himself out of the his own hair and baby teeth combined with prosthetic limbs.
The album`s first single, "The Beautiful People," pounded
its was onto the airwaves. Manson`s voice, as frightening in falsetto as
in its customary hoarse howl, bombarded mainstream society and music to the
beat of tribal-techno drums, putting down the so-called beautiful ones in
one foul blow. The accusational cries of "Hey you, what do you see?/Something
beautiful, something free?" were soon on high-rotation MTV courtesy of a
gorgeously disturbing video. It was directed by Florida Sigismondi, the Italian
director who is becoming known for visually presenting the dark side of the
human mind. Sigismondi has also worked with the likes of Tricky and David
Bowie. She told MTV News that "a lot of my images come from that time when
you just go to sleep, and I usually end up writing in the dark or just when
I wake up," adding, "I think it could get pretty scary if people hide that
side of them, and then kind of let it out in other ways, where I`m very visible
with it, and it`s a safe way." Manson himself, the main inspiration behind
the videos disturbing images, told MTV that he introduced Sigismondi to his
fondness for "prosthetics and other medical fetishes" and that the band "all
went wild with, you know, her ideas. And I think she did a great job. It
did leave some bad cuts in my mouth, witch unfortunately probably will never
heal."
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