Marilyn Manson - The Pale Emperor

(Words by Burra, Porth's last hope for redemption)

I'll be honest, I went into this album not expecting a great deal, and with the mindset it would never be another Mechanical Animals (for me Marilyn Manson's finest hour). However, I was actually quite surprised by this record; it holds itself up quite well as an album. I think it is definitely the best thing to come out of the Marilyn Manson camp, in recent years at least.

I was first drawn into the release after hearing the track and seeing the video for "The Mephistopheles Of Los Angeles" which I feel also happens to be one of the album's strongest tracks. Manson really won me back over on that one. Other highlights from the album include "Third Day Of A Seven Day Binge", which is a dark, slower number with a really catchy and repetitive guitar hook throughout, as well as (I feel most the Mechanical Animals-era sounding track) "Cupid Carries A Gun", and also the brilliant "Deep Six", with it's very early 2000's sound and nu metal-esque riffs.

Overall not a disappointing album at all, there are a few weaker moments here and there, but otherwise a very decent offering and one that shouldn't be dismissed.

The Kovenant - Animatronic

It might have cybergoth written all over it, but this album is the fucking shit. Imagine if Dimmu Borgir decided to start making music like KMFDM or something. Animatronic is a bright, sparkly journey through what should by rights be a dark and mysterious world. The songs are keyboard or female-vocal led, beefed out with chuggy riffage and a combination of programmed beats and heavy drumming. Eagled-eared listeners (is that a thing? It is now!) will recognise the opening track, "Mirror's Paradise", from Bam Magera's infamous CKY videos. 

The magic in this album though, has gotta be the production job. If this thing was mixed in any other way, it would probably fail catastrophically. The keyboards and electronic sounds really are the driving force here, and if they got buried under the metal and the screechy vocals, the whole thing would fall on it's arse, like when Martin Foul left Cradle Of Filth; it took you a few tracks to realize that something was missing, and when you finally figured it out, everything sounded empty and boring.

I genuinely believe that there isn't a bad song on this album. I can't exactly do repeat listens, because the whole goth thing grates on me after a bit, but every now and then I come back to this album and love every second of it, before compartmentalising it again for another random period of time. My favourite tracks are the well-known opener, "Mirror's Paradise", the brooding "Mannequin", the pacy "Human Abstract" (which a really crummy band is named after) and the highlarious cover of Babylon Zoo's "Spaceman". 

Dust off the cyberlocks and glowsticks, it's time to dance and then take too much heroin and vomit on your Ministry t-shirt. Yay goths! 

Linesinwax trivia - the guy on the right on the album cover is none other than Mayhem's Hellhammer, who quite suprisingly, provided the real drumming on this album. He's also wearing a suspicious amount of eye-liner, for someone who seems to have such a problem with homosexuals (haven't you seen the part of Until The Light Takes Us where he seems to find Faust stabbing a gay man to death amusing?). 

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses

Now here's something I have listened the absolute fucking death out of during the last few months. I've always been a casual Type O Negative fan but I've always put off buying their albums, because I'm lazy as fuck like that. Anyways, I stumbled upon a free copy of this when I worked clearing out unwanted crap from charity shops, and for the next couple of hours in the van I became baptised in the awesome world of Type O Negative. Man, why didn't anyone tell me about this shit before? Mix equal parts doom metal and hardcore punk with hammy keyboards, then dress the whole thing up to take the piss out of a subculture that takes itself far too seriously, and bam - you've got the perfect recipe! 

The opening tracks (20 minutes on their own) "Christian Woman" and "Black No. 1" are stone-cold goth metal classics. Taking the piss or no, Pete Steele & Chums churned out more promise and epicness in two fucking tracks than in the entire discographies of Sisters Of Mercy and HIM combined. "Kill All The White People" marries hardcore punk and Sabbath-worship riffage in a puzzling yet amazing duality. "Summer Breeze" sounds as the title promises, and "We Hate Everyone" pulverises the listener with more hardcore punk-influenced terror before the sheer epic of "Bloody Kisses" kicks in. Nearly 11 minutes long, the title track is a mammoth depressing beast. Shit sends fucking shivers up my spine, yo - especially during the piano solo (hahaha). Joking or otherwise, it's a seriously heavy track and boasts a fucking wicked chorus. "Too Late: Frozen" is another favourite of mine, starting off fast as fuck and slowing down to a doomy pace for the remainder.

I'd absolutely love to see these play live, but I'll never get that chance as Pete Steele sadly died before I developed any real respect for the band. I consider this album to be an absolute staple in my list of legendary metal records. I have only shame and regret for not discovering this total gem of a band any sooner. They have fecking stacks of good songs, but none of the albums live up to the sheer back-to-back quality of tracks on Bloody Kisses, which might just be the definitive goth-related record for me. 

Crank this up and crack out the black nail polish.

Mortiis - Decadent & Desperate

I got these two when they were around (I think) 70p each on the Earache store. An utter bargain! Every now and then they put the shit that I assume wasn't selling down to some retarded low price. Once I went on there and they had Adema 7"s for 10p each. I was almost tempted to make a large purchase and then build a fire out of Adema singles. That would have been a good day! Too bad I snoozed on that opportunity; said Adema records are now an extortionate 99p each. Life is not fair.

Anyway, onto the music. Decadent & Desperate is not one of the highlights in the Mortiis cannon if you ask me, but I got these anyway because I do intend to get all of his vinyl one day, even the horrendously over-priced era 1 ambient stuff. One 7" contains a pretty uneventful live recording and the other a remix of "Way Too Wicked", which is a fairly cool song. The wax is all black but limited (?) to 2000 copies, and I'm guessing there is a 1000 green and 1000 brown, but I could be wrong. 

Mortiis - The Grudge (Single Edit)

 

I wasn't entirely fussed on Mortiis' much more metal approach in 2004 but there are some cracking tunes on The Grudge, including the title track, packaged here wittled down to a club-size bite. I can't blame Earache for wanting in on the electro-goth club scene audience that Mortiis so obviously appeals to, but the single edit is, in all honesty, fucking pointless. It takes a great song and makes it less great simply but cutting parts out of it. The Grudge as a song doesn't quite fall awkwardly into horrible chugging like some tracks off the album but simply showcases a rougher (and ALOT angrier) side to Mortiis whilst retaining the excellent synth and bass sound of earlier efforts.

On side B (or should I say AA) is "Decadent and Desperate", the big Mortiis single (in my opinion). Not quite sure why this is here if it was later repressed as a single (twice) in it's own right? Confusing move, Earache, I gotta be honest. "Decadent.." is muddy, riddled with angst only seen the ultra-bad part of nu-metal and is terribly mixed. It is far cry from anything off Smell of Rain. Mortiis is an excellent musician, not to mention performer, but this song is just hands down balls. Ironically, it was his best known song in the circles I hung around in at high school. People dug this song but shunned early Mortiis and even the album this was off! Moron fucking goths! Ha ha!

Mortiis - The Smell of Rain

Y'know what, I don't know anyone who fucking likes Mortiis. Either he really isn't appreciated at all, or I am just surrounded by people who do not understand his music. I'm pretty certain it is the latter. When I was in school a lot of the goth kids started liking Mortiis when The Grudge came out, and this pissed me off if anything, because I'd been chastised for listening to Mortiis for years, and now all of a sudden it was cool. Well, maybe cool wasn't the right word, but if you told me I would go to see Mortiis live with four other people I would have told you to fuck off. Four people! Jesus fucking Christ!

In 2012, and therefore able to view the Mortiis canon in it's entirety, one can appreciate the odd space in time that The Smell of Rain occupies. Lodged awkwardly in the early 00s, sandwiched between Mortiis' often questionable "dark dungeon" synth outputs and his later, more industrial and metal influenced work, The Smell of Rain is an enigma unto itself, somehow combining elements of past and future Mortiis sounds and rolling into one fuck off ball of puzzling goth-disco. Yes. That just about sums it up.

I'm sure most peoples knowledge of this record begins and ends with the nauseating promo video for "Parasite God", a cracking track in it's own right, but this album is so much more! Bang your head to tunes such as "Mental Maelstrom"! Dance yourself silly to "Put a Hex on Me"! Sing along proudly to "Smell the Witch"! Cringe at Mortiis singing "Monolith"! What a journey! I'm sure that it is rather obvious I am being sarcastic here but I mean good. Whereas this record may not stand the test of time alongside the full spectrum of music created on the planet, The Smell of Rain remains elite within it's own possibly self-made sub genre of severe corniness and eye make up.

This pressing is actually very extravagant, considering Earache put it out. It is pressed on super heavy wax spinning at 45rpm, giving you the full audiophile experience you would never expect from Dig and co. Unfortunatley, my copy is marred by a sticker removal on the front cover, ripping off a chunk of artwork, which really sucks.

I have spent many hours of my early teenage life listening to this record, and I suggest that anyone with an open mind listen to it. Would I like it if I heard it for the first time right now, you ask? Well, if someone described it as Shpongle meets Nine Inch Nails at stereotypical 80s disco, I would jump at the chance to hear it. And so should you.