It’s very nearly the Season Of The Witch and, never one to miss a trick, monster of shock rock Marilyn Manson has returned with a treat for his fans in the form of We Are Chaos. With the metal scene in rude health right now thanks to the likes of Ghost taking over the mainstream and acts like Venom Prison causing a huge stir in the underground, the pressure was on for the so-called God Of Fuck to create something special if he wanted to remain on his perch near the top of the tree and his eleventh opus is just that and proves that much like fellow bogeymen Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, we shouldn’t count him out just yet.

After dispensing of the services of producer Tyler Bates (who twiddled knobs on previous two records The Pale Emperor and Heaven Upside Down) Manson made the unusual choice of hiring country/southern rock star Shooter Jennings to join him behind the desk and while the decision caused more cocked eyebrows than Golfgate, his gamble paid off handsomely as they’ve created a dark and delicious soundtrack for this ugly era.

Described by the singer as his “masterpiece,” the spectre of Bowie hangs over much of the material, especially his Outside album (which is as classic a case of the serpent eating its own tail as you get). The title track (and recent single) serves as an excellent scene setter for Mazza’s latest sound and is steeped in the perverted pop of the Beatles, while elsewhere the epic alt ballad ‘Solve Coagula’ is a euphoric oddity and lines like “I’m not special/I’m broken and I don’t wanna be fixed” are vintage Manson.

The chugging, White Zombie peppered ‘Red Black And Blue’ is a highlight, as is the buzzing, bass driven ‘Keep My Head Together’ (which shamelessly pulls a few pages from Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury’s songbook). Star of the show is ‘Don’t Chase The Dead’ and the hook laden marriage of the Banshees, Bowie, Depeche Mode and the Horrors may be his most infectious effort since ‘Disposable Teens.’

Granted, the clean and polished nature of some songs are a little jarring (this is a man who built his career on filth and indeed fury, after all) and this reviewer misses the unbridled bile of the eardrum battering ‘Irresponsible Hate Anthem’ from yesteryear, but there’s no doubting that the catchy, falsetto-spiced glam stomper ‘Perfume’ and the piano bashing ‘Aladdin Sane’ -esque closer ‘Broken Needle’ are some of the most exciting songs he’s made in years.

7/10