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 Marilyn Manson |
 Slayer |
 Marilyn Manson |
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Story and photos by Phil Bonyata Halloween came early to the Allstate Arena last Monday night. The double bill of Marilyn Manson and Slayer would, in years past, have surely been a sign that the end of days were near. Today, it's more like aging trick or treaters dressing up as their younger selves thinking that their scare factor is still cutting edge. Slayer's monolithic headbanging sound hasn't evolved much since it's early days in the '80s. But fans of the genre don't care nor are most looking for change.Slayer's influential blend of metal thrash and sonic assault are still as brutal as ever as witnessed by opening number "Flesh Storm" off of their latest release Christ Illusion. The bands' wild and chaotic guitars were on a perpetual search for the start of the apocalypse. Singer/bassist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo's thunderous bass and drums helped elevate the maelstrom into something even more sinister as witnessed on "Jihad" and "Cult." The problem is that Slayers' attack is so relenteless it's starts to lose its power due to its forced repetitions and fear of musical downturns and nonlinear structure. Remember that the best action movies are the ones that know how to pace the action rather than the films that blindside you from the opening to the closing credits. Same goes with music. Closing their set with the construction site in hell bombast of "Mandatory Suicide," and "Angel of Death," Slayer apparently have no intentions of reinventing their sound anytime soon. Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson's days of shock and awe have been over for years now. Outside of his unwarranted notoriety with his perceived negative influences on the murderous Columbine students, Manson has been as predictable as one of the latest "Saw" sequels. After a sizable chunk of the half filled stadium exited after Slayer - it was Manson's turn at the twisted pulpit. Manson, clad in his usual rental style leather bondage outfit (at least with "Mechanical Animals" he was able to shock with his eyepopping androgenous nudity) opened with "If I Was Your Vampire" off of his latest release Eat Me, Drink Me. The four-piece band was able to swing the jagged guitar hooks as Manson belted out the glam rock chorus with turbulent force. The Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," brought back a little of the grimy industrial of early Manson and still had a fresh veneer of mailce on the surface. Manson's skinny frame is quite mobile on stage. He crawls closely to the ground as he slinks towards his worshippers - while crouching at peak locations to unfurl one of his six standard snarls. His poses are part android and part bipolar mime. The S&M party continued on with "Heart-Shaped Glasses," "The Beautiful People," "Disposable Teens" and "The Dope Show." Manson still knows how to entertain with a relative ease of panache, but somewhere along the way he lost the roadmap to danger and challenge. Now Marilyn Manson has become something he used to loathe - a self-parody. |
 Marilyn Manson |
 Slayer |
 Marilyn Manson |
 Slayer |
 Marilyn Manson |