9 Times Marilyn Manson Was The Greatest Rockstar In Any Circle Of Hell
4. Heresy - Antichrist Superstar
Album: Antichrist Superstar (1996)
Killer Lyrics: “Repent / That’s what I’m talking about / I shed the skin to feed the fake
Antichrist Superstar is the first track of Cycle III: Disintegrator Rising, the section that details the album’s protagonist becoming the Antichrist. Manson’s career is a rap sheet of heresy. However, this song is the defining moment when Manson announced his arrival as the new face of fear. Antichrist Superstar is a signature song and one of the most performed live.
Manson typically performs the song from a podium above the crowd, one with a clear Third Reich influence, as he lampoons the elaborate delivery of dictators. Often during such performances Manson indulges in the most enduring and provocative form of heresy: ripping and/or burning a Bible.
Creepy garbled falsetto voices and literal industrial grinding effects lead into a pounding anthem, which not only stirs a response from the audience but whips them into a state of collective revolt. The song is composed of five lead guitar tracks and twenty-seven rhythm guitar tracks. A symphony which recalls the horns and trumpets brought out to welcome a home nation despot. The song concludes with the robotic repetition of the classic Manson line, “when you are suffering, know I have betrayed you”.