In This Moment and Marilyn Manson.

So, as well as being a Wonderlander I am also a regular poster on Provider Module, a Marilyn Manson-based website and forum. Alongside ITM, Manson is one of my favourite bands, and has been for many years. Of course, Manson fans can be somewhat obsessed with dissecting every thing he says or does, and there is a sizable portion of the forum dedicated to the analysis of his work. Some of the things I mention here I originally posted on that website's forum, however I wanted to expand on them taking note of some things Maria has expressly asked us to keep to ourselves on the Wonderland page. So, for those of you who are interested, take a look at this:

The first similarity between the two I noticed occurred around the release of A Star Crossed Wasteland. When live photos began to appear, it was hard for me to not take note of Maria's microphone stand and its decoration of broken dolls:



which bore a similarity to those that decorated the stage set of Manson during the band's early years:



That is the only photo I could find but you can also see the dolls in this video, hanging from the top left and right corners of the stage around the 1 minute mark:



And as if that wasn't enough, compare the skull that sits at the top of the microphone stand to this one in the booklet for Manson's album Portrait Of An American Family:



Couple all of that with the music for the album's lead single, "The Gun Show", and its similarities to the riff in Manson's song "Antichrist Superstar" that can be heard from 0:55 in this video:



So that's all stuff that I picked up on a couple of years ago, however with all the new stuff coming out surrounding Blood, I picked up on a few more things. Of course, the title track does have a much heavier use of electronics and processing that could be called a stylistic similarity with areas of Manson's work, but there is also more. By now we're all familiar with "Blood Girls":



an image that, while we would normally expect it to be somewhat sexual with it's depiction of naked women, seems to in fact be lacking in sexuality and identity with the features of their faces, and the nipples and genitalia removed from the photograph, a somewhat similar theme behind one of Manson's own album covers:



an image which Manson himself has said was intended to express "sexlessness and vulnerability".

Fast forward a few years in Manson's career and we reach the early 2000's, a period where for a time he took to wearing a military style cap



Not too dissimilar to the one sported by Maria of late:



and of course, it is not the only headwear that the two have shared their likeness in...





So that's just about it. Of course, it could all be entirely coincidental, and I'm not trying to uncover any hidden mysteries here, just pointing out the similarities as I see them. I find it pretty interesting that there are so many given that I've never heard any member of ITM mention Manson as any kind of inspiration or artist that they like. Still, sometimes people of a highly creative mind just approach things from the same angle, I guess. Anyway, hope you enjoyed that, discuss as you wish!

UPDATE 1

Just an update on some things post-Blood... a few more I noticed on the new album. 'Rise With Me' repeats the lyric "Just say tonight/ You'll die here with me", which reminded me of both the "I hope at least that we die holding hands" of 'The Speed Of Pain', 'Spade's "And we said 'til we die", and the Bonnie and Clyde references made throughout the Eat Me, Drink Me era. What's more, the song '****' contains the chorus line "I am the dirt you created", which seems reminiscent of Manson's statement of "I am your s**t", while the music for the song (mostly the guitar at the start), to my ear, wouldn't seem too out of place on Eat Me, Drink Me or The Golden Age Of Grotesque. Compare:



UPDATE 2

Shortly before the Adrenalize video hit the streets, Maria took to using a 'smoke gun' on stage during "Blazin'" seen here:



which is reminiscent of the smoke gun used by Manson during his 2012 shows, as seen here:



Now we get to the Adrenalize video itself.



Starting at he 1:55 mark, there are several shots of Maria exhaling smoke. While only a vague similarity, in the context of this discussion it's worthwhile noting as a similarity to the shot starting at 2:00 in Manson's video for "Slo-Mo-Tion".



Next up we come to the shots first seen around the 2:13 mark, with Maria walking down the hallway on stilts. Of course, anyone who has followed Manson's career will be familiar with his use of stilts for many use, dating back to the early days of the band:



however, also take note of Maria's hands in those scenes, with the long, twig-like extensions on her fingers, and compare them to Manson's in the video for "The Nobodies", starting at 1:00 and best seen at 1:32:



Next up, in the second chorus of Adrenalize, we see Maria in a dirty room with writing all over the walls. Compare that to Manson's room seen throughout "Tourniquet":



Later on, during the bridge with its repeated "Adrenalize me", at the 3:37 mark there is a shot of Maria, on the stilts in the hall, suddenly unfurling a pair of wings. This could easily be a reference to Manson's album "Antichrist Superstar". In the video for the title track (included earlier), at the 4:50 mark there is an image of a human figure sporting wings, while other songs on the album make numerous references to "getting wings": The song "Cryptorchid" contains the lines "I feel my back it's changing shape" and "The angel has spread his wings/ the time has come for bitter things", while "Wormboy" has "Then I got my wings and I never even knew it". The album cover itself shows Manson with fly-like wings emerging from his back:



To wrap all this up (for now at least), something a bit obvious but worth mentioning nonetheless, the Adrenalize video is full of people wearing animal masks, most numerous among them rabbits. Not a new piece of imagery for In This Moment, as the artwork for The Dream also contained someone in a rabbit mask. However, interesting to note as in 2007, Manson asked the question in his song "Are You The Rabbit?":



UPDATE 3

Also, take a look at this early footage of Marilyn Manson (this was before they were signed):



and compare the use of the sheet to Maria's shadow dance interlude she performed during shows late last year:

I didn't even know Marilyn Manson was still around.

I think it's excellent observation of ITM vs Manson. I hope there is a reply to this one.

I totally agree. I love Manson and ITM! If they toured together, that would be sweeet!

Cheers guys!

OliviaITM wrote:

I totally agree. I love Manson and ITM! If they toured together, that would be sweeet!

Soundwave 2012... ITM finished, I walked over to another stage, Manson came on. Pretty good day

Just an update on some things post-Blood... a few more I noticed on the new album. 'Rise With Me' repeats the lyric "Just say tonight/ You'll die here with me", which reminded me of both the "I hope at least that we die holding hands" of 'The Speed Of Pain', 'Spade's "And we said 'til we die", and the Bonnie and Clyde references made throughout the Eat Me, Drink Me era. What's more, the song '****' contains the chorus line "I am the dirt you created", which seems reminiscent of Manson's statement of "I am your s**t", while the music for the song (mostly the guitar at the start), to my ear, wouldn't seem too out of place on Eat Me, Drink Me or The Golden Age Of Grotesque. Compare:

Ok guys, I'm carrying this on post-Adrenalize video. For those of you following there is new stuff in this post, but I will also collate everything in to the opening post for completeness.
Shortly before the Adrenalize video hit the streets, Maria took to using a 'smoke gun' on stage during "Blazin'" seen here:



which is reminiscent of the smoke gun used by Manson during his 2012 shows, as seen here:



Now we get to the Adrenalize video itself. Starting at he 1:55 mark, there are several shots of Maria exhaling smoke. While only a vague similarity, in the context of this discussion it's worthwhile noting as a similarity to the shot starting at 2:00 in Manson's video for "Slo-Mo-Tion".



Next up we come to the shots first seen around the 2:13 mark, with Maria walking down the hallway on stilts. Of course, anyone who has followed Manson's career will be familiar with his use of stilts for many use, dating back to the early days of the band:



however, also take note of Maria's hands in those scenes, with the long, twig-like extensions on her fingers, and compare them to Manson's in the video for "The Nobodies", starting at 1:00 and best seen at 1:32:



Next up, in the second chorus of Adrenalize, we see Maria in a dirty room with writing all over the walls. Compare that to Manson's room seen throughout "Tourniquet":



Later on, during the bridge with its repeated "Adrenalize me", at the 3:37 mark there is a shot of Maria, on the stilts in the hall, suddenly unfurling a pair of wings. This could easily be a reference to Manson's album "Antichrist Superstar". In the video for the title track (included earlier), at the 4:50 mark there is an image of a human figure sporting wings, while other songs on the album make numerous references to "getting wings": The song "Cryptorchid" contains the lines "I feel my back it's changing shape" and "The angel has spread his wings/ the time has come for bitter things", while "Wormboy" has "Then I got my wings and I never even knew it". The album cover itself shows Manson with fly-like wings emerging from his back:



To wrap all this up (for now at least), something a bit obvious but worth mentioning nonetheless, the Adrenalize video is full of people wearing animal masks, most numerous among them rabbits. Not a new piece of imagery for In This Moment, as the artwork for The Dream also contained someone in a rabbit mask. However, interesting to note as in 2007, Manson asked the question in his song "Are You The Rabbit?":



A quick update for some things I forgot, check out the use of the sheet in this early Manson video, and compare it to the ITM one: