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Called by some "the
freest spirit who ever existed," the Marquis de Sade
was an elitist French writer who two centuries ago
penned violent, erotic fiction and lived a life as
vile and debauched as his cruelest prose.
His words and deeds
gave rise to the term "sadism," and there are reports
that he mercilessly beat unwilling prostitutes and
poisoned at least two women with a shoddily prepared
aphrodisiac. Even so, there are still those who feel
he was demonized and unfairly judged by the moral
majority of his era.
More than 200 years
after he wrote his most recognizable work, de Sade
may be experiencing a renaissance. Last year, film
director Philip Kaufman documented his life in the
film "Quills," and now morbidly obsessed rocker Marilyn
Manson is using de Sade's exploits as the partial
framework for his upcoming album, which he hopes to
release next spring.
"The complete theme
is still under wraps," Manson said recently. "But
it definitely lends itself to some of the things that
have inspired me over the past year, particularly
the life of the Marquis de Sade. I relate to how he
was a person who had a very vivid imagination that
scared a lot of people and he was punished for the
things that were going on in his head. He was using
his mind and his art to exorcise his demons, and he
was punished for it. And I feel a lot of times I get
myself into similar circumstances."
Manson has written the
music for about 10 new songs and is currently working
on the lyrics. Unlike his past albums, which dealt
with the evils of organized religion, the dangers
of conservatism and the effects of drugs, the new
disc will be more intimate, focusing on Manson's obsession
with sexual depravity.
"I suppose there's an
element of me having a healthier sexual relationship
in my life now," he said. "So the music has a very
personal fetish quality to it in the sense that I
talk about and try to express musically things that
I normally wouldn't have done in the past. I've often
put my feelings into personas and different characters
on each record to help me talk about what's inside
me. Sometimes it's easier if you put it into metaphors.
I think this one deals with things on a realer and
dirtier and rawer level. It's gonna be the kind you
put on when you want to accomplish something, whether
it's to take out all your aggressions or have sex
to or be by yourself and consider how you're going
to take out your aggressions sexually somewhere down
the road."
Musically, the new Manson
disc will be as abrasive and pummeling, but probably
not as metallic as past offerings. Ever since legions
of neo-headbangers catapulted to the top of the charts,
the ever-perverse Manson has been stricken with the
need to re-evaluate his formula for noise.
"We're in an era of
music right now where heavy rock and aggressive things
are very acceptable and very near approaching cliché,"
he groused. "So it's very important to keep pushing
the boundary of how you make heavy music, and I want
to continue to make really heavy music, but I want
to do it in a way that isn't like everything else
I hear when I turn on the radio."
Manson described the
new songs he's been working on as "Marquis de Sade
with a drum machine" and said he's been inspired by
late-'80s industrial-rock pioneers like Ministry,
Big Black and Nitzer Ebb.
"The music isn't retro
and it's not dated, it just deals with some of the
things I'd forgotten were enjoyable to put into music,"
he explained. "I think I'm trying to make people see
that music that is not conventional and not organic
rock 'n' roll can still have very much of a soul to
it."
The album is being co-produced
by Tim Skold (KMFDM, Skold), who is also working with
Manson on the "Resident Evil" film score. Other guests
that will likely appear on the disc include Canadian
smut-rapper Peaches and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison,
who also appears in Manson's "Tainted Love" video.
"[Jordison] did a remix
for us of 'Fight Song' a while back. I liked it so
much that he and I started talking about doing other
music together," Manson said. "He came by, and he
worked on a track with me. I'm not sure if it's gonna
end up on the album or not, but he played guitar.
Strangely, he didn't want to be involved in the drum
tracks. He and I have been very close since Ozzfest
and plan to do a lot of things together in the future."
Hearing Jordison on
guitar may be an eye-opener for Manson's legions,
and that's just what the shock rocker is shooting
for. More than anything, Manson wants to surprise
those who thought they knew what to expect from him,
to put something they didn't know they'd like on their
plate and then force them to consume it.
"I'm motivated to show
people some sides of me they haven't seen," he said.
"I had a good time doing 'Tainted Love' because people
got to see a bit of my sense of humor that I usually
hold back. ... I think there's a lot more that I have
to offer that isn't out there yet and that it's just
not as narrow as [music made by] a lot of people that
I see around me. And it's still obviously hard for
someone like me that's been around 10 years to maintain
a career and put out record after record, so I'm also
motivated by the basic instinct to survive."
Thanks a lot
to: HaTeRaPeR and azad.
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