Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death) is a scathing juggernaut that is carved with scars and accusations, pointing a bony finger at the world that created it. In some ways, as a reaction to being blamed for violence, Marilyn Manson has artfully crafted an album that addresses the subject head-on with Biblical and alchemical references. Both brutal and melodic, it leaves the listener with a Bosch-like vision that sounds as if it was painted with his own blood and scratched into his own skin.
The band recorded in MansonΓÇÖs home (once inhabited by the Rolling Stones while they wrote ΓÇ£Let It BleedΓÇ¥), Harry HoudiniΓÇÖs mansion, and various parts of Death Valley. The album manages to capture the overwhelming fear, anger, and uncertainty of the late '60s with traditional songwriting mangled into riot music and sickly sweet death parades of self-loathing. The album was conceived and arranged by Marilyn Manson. It was produced by Marilyn Manson and Dave Sardy with programming and synthesizers provided by Bon Harris (Nitzer Ebb). Sounding like an apocalyptic White Album, Manson finds the voice of the disenfranchised and asserts himself as a leader.
Although it follows the worldwide success of Mechanical Animals and Antichrist Superstar, Holy Wood is actually the first part of a trilogy Manson began in 1995, with inspiration from the novel of the same name. Antichrist Superstar created the ultimate destroyer and a tragic ending. Mechanical Animals worked backwards to the middle with the sardonic character of Omega, and now finally, Adam Kadmon is the protagonist of Holy Wood.
In short, this seemingly autobiographical story is about a naïve boy who wishes to be part of a "perfect" world that doesn’t want him. When he finally finds acceptance in Holy Wood, the girl or "object" he has become consumed by is the very thing that shows exactly what that perfect world is: a place where the rich get high on violence, children are disposable entertainment, and the imperfect poor are cast out to a proletariat ghetto known as Death Valley.
Adam’s idealism becomes the seed of a revolution and the vines that grow to bind him. Not only does he fail to overthrow Holy Wood in an attempt to "save" a world uninterested in being saved, but his revolution becomes just another hollow product to be sold to the doped-out masses. By the time he sees what he has done and what he has lost, it’s far too late. Now there is only one thing left to do…
