The High End of Low (album)

The High End of Low
Studio album by Marilyn Manson
Released	May 26, 2009
Recorded	March 2008–January 2009 in Los Angeles and Hollywood, California
Label	Interscope
Producer	Marilyn Manson, Sean Beavan
Marilyn Manson chronology
Lost & Found (2008) The High End of Low (2009)

The High End of Low is Marilyn Manson's seventh studio album. It is scheduled for release on May 26, 2009 by Interscope Records. The album was recorded in Hollywood Hills throughout 2008 and January 2009 by Marilyn Manson, Twiggy Ramirez, Chris Vrenna and Ginger Fish; former live guitarist Wes Borland also confirmed recording "three or four" songs with the band, although it isn't clear if his contributions can be heard in the final mixes. Sean Beavan, who was responsible for mixing the band's Mechanical Animals and Eat Me, Drink Me albums, acted as co-producer for The High End of Low. Following the release of The High End of Low, Marilyn Manson will resume touring.

Manson has attested that The High End of Low is about having his "soul trampled on by women" but is also something that "makes you laugh." Manson claimed in an interview with Revolver that the album "wipes the floor with everything we've done before" citing it's "guitar solos and brutal, reckless screaming" and lyrics which he described as "relationship-destroying statements. Some of it is stuff I should have said to my ex-wife. Some are things I've never said to the world." It is slated to spawn the single "Armageddon".

The tracklisting for the album is in chronological order to the order each song was written. 15 is the album closer as it was the last track written for the album which was on January 5, 2009, which was also Manson's 40th birthday. Devour is the first as described by Rudy Coby naming it the first song written for the album in a myspace bulletin he posted on January 12.

Background information

Production

Initially Manson revealed the recording session's for the band's seventh album would take place between March and May 2008, that two Eat Me, Drink Me b-sides may be included, and that he would again be working with Tim Skold, as well as Slayer's Kerry King, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner and James Iha on the album; a demo of one song was also allegedly recorded, along with written ideas for other potential tracks.

In January 2008, however, it was announced that Tim Skold had departed from the band, coinciding with the return of former bassist Twiggy Ramirez. Manson said in an exclusive interview with The Heirophant that were plans of recording an album together once the Rape of the World tour ended. Though he had yet to divulge any sonic or thematic details of the album, Manson asserted that the four-year gap between the release of The Golden Age of Grotesque and its successor was "a mistake I don't want to repeat in the future," and that "I just feel like there is a big change happening now. It's going to be the one. Eat Me, Drink Me is opening the window and this is going to be the Hurricane Katrina."

In a February 2008 interview with Steppin' Out, Manson described the new album as, "very ruthless, very heavy, and very violent."

In March 2008, a news blog on the official MySpace profile of Twiggy Ramirez's side project Goon Moon stated that "Jeordie is working on a new Marilyn Manson studio album". A week later Manson's MySpace profile was updated with a new banner, showing a spectral analysis of an audio track, possibly referring to the fact that they are indeed in the studio recording new tracks. In addition to this the track "The Fall of Adam" was added the the page's music player, which may imply a reprisal of the Celebritarian theme.

On October 19, 2008, Manson and Ramirez announced at the 2008 Scream Awards' after party that the album will "sound much like Antichrist Superstar" and that the recording sessions are "pretty much done." It was also revealed that live guitarist Wes Borland would remain with the band while they tour in support of the record. In an interview with Spinner.com released the following day, Manson put forth an explanation of Ramirez's experience working on the album: "This record is the record we always wanted to make and [Twiggy] is writing from a point of view that I've always written from lyrically. I don't think earlier on he had the opportunity to be damaged, and his soul to be trampled on by women as much as me. So now that his penis has been cut off metaphorically, and been smashed into fucking Sloppy Joe's, someone shit on his heart a thousand times, we tried to put a musical face to that." A statement by Manson that the band are considering releasing a song before the end of the year implies that the album is unlikely to be released in winter 2008 as Manson had declared in May.

In December 2008, Manson revealed the sonic qualities of three tracks. One is said to feature "a coven of witchy girls," the other "acoustic swampiness that harkens back to when [he] was living in New Orleans," and the song Manson plays guitar on also features him "snorting something — whatever it might have been" as a percussive instrument.

The Heirophant administrator Filicide has described one of five tracks whose title has been revealed as "the next Para-Noir," citing "Instrumental more so in that it's hypnotic..similar, but much longer than Para-Noir."

In February 2009, Manson briefly discussed the album in the monthly issue of Revolver, where he revealed the working titles for two new songs, "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies" and "Armagoddamnmotherfuckinggeddon". On February 2, 2009, the album's final title was revealed via a blog on Marilyn Manson's official MySpace profile, and it was revealed that a music video would be produced for the nine-minute "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies". On March 10, 2009, a blog entry by producer Sean Beavan confirmed two additional titles, "15" and the rumored "Four Rusted Horses". "Armagoddamnmotherfuckinggeddon" was alternatively spelled "Arma-God Damn-Mother Fuckin'-Geddon", leaving the official title unclear.

On March 11, 2009, The Heirophant user MindRelapse commented on the album, saying "The material I heard did not indicate that Manson has set out to create a sequel or counterpart to anything he's done in the past. More so than "Eat Me, Drink Me" or "The Golden Age of Grotesque", the album sounds like Manson is finding his footing in the post-triptych era. [...] The only parallel I can draw to "Antichrist Superstar" is that they both welcomed in a new era with a heavy, hard around the edges style where you knew something big was about to begin. [...] Another parallel I can draw [...] is to "Holy Wood" when regarding Twiggy's bass. [...] Twiggy gets several chances to shine on the songs I heard which were very bass heavy. [...] On Manson's front, the wear and tear on his voice is still audibly present, but less apparent than on "Eat Me, Drink Me". [...] It's a little hard to pay attention to lyrics when the music is this fast, but I did spot the re-emergence of Manson's wordplay and a general 'fuck you' tone. His vocals sound raw again, this time due to age, but they compliment the music perfectly."

In a recent interview with Kerrang!, Manson revealed that The High End of Low contains 15 songs, "15" being its closing track. He was also adamant that the fourteenth track is a "glorious epic" which Twiggy Ramirez will be most memorable for as a guitarist. Manson also explained that the songs on the album are listed by the order they were written and recorded. He also revealed the title of another song, "We're from America", which is planned to be released for free download on the band's website on March 27, 2009.

Release date

The album was originally scheduled for release in October 2008, although due to touring commitments this date was pushed back to winter 2008, before a more recent slating in May 2009 was establishing. Initially Manson also intended to release a song from the album before the end of 2008, however these plans did not materialize. French talk show La Méthode Cauet has reported that The High End of Low is scheduled for release on May 29, 2009, however both the band and its label have yet to publicize any particular date besides "May 2009". On March 10, Metal Hammer published an article citing a release of May 18, 2009 in the United Kingdom, and Tower Records has slated the album's release date in Japan as May 13, 2009. A North American release of May 26, 2009 has recently been announced, however it is uncertain if this will affect the release dates for other regions which have surfaced.

Promoting The High End of Low will be a free download of the song "We're from America" on March 27, followed by its reissue as a digital single on April 7. The album's first physical single, "Armageddon", will enter airplay on April 13.

Track listing

1. "Devour"
15. "15"

(Note: Devour has been confirmed to be the first track off the album, while 15 has been confirmed to be the last.)

Confirmed working titles

• "Armagoddamnmotherfuckinggeddon"
• "Four Rusted Horses"
• "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies"
• "We're from America"

Personnel

• Marilyn Manson – vocals, percussion, guitars, production
• Twiggy Ramirez – guitars, bass, keyboards
• Chris Vrenna – keyboards, programming
• Sean Beavan – production