One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1 is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. The record was produced by Marilyn Manson and Tyler Bates, and was released by Nuclear Blast on November 22, 2024, on the 61st anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It is the band's first album since We Are Chaos in 2020. Shortly after the release of that album, the band was dropped by their label, talent agency and manager when several women accused the vocalist of abuse, allegations he has denied. A four-year criminal investigation of the abuse allegations resulted in no charges being filed against Manson.
The record was primarily recorded at Bates's Los Angeles recording studio, The Abattoir, between April 2023 and April 2024. It features drums performed by Gil Sharone, who also contributed to the band's previous albums The Pale Emperor and Heaven Upside Down. The album was preceded by the release of three singles: "As Sick as the Secrets Within", "Raise the Red Flag" and "Sacrilegious". Music videos were created for all three singles, as well as the album's title track. All four music videos were directed by Bill Yukich. The singles were successful upon release, reaching career-high peaks on several American and British charts.
The album received positive reviews, with publications praising the songwriting, vocals, and production. It was well received by fans, topping numerous year-end fan reader polls. It also performed well commercially, peaking in the top twenty in several major European markets. The live band, consisting of Manson, Bates, Sharone, Piggy D. and Reba Meyers, toured extensively in support of the record. In the summer of 2024, they performed a North American co-headlining tour with Five Finger Death Punch, and performed their own headlining tours of Europe and North America throughout 2025.
Background and recording The band's eleventh studio album, We Are Chaos, was released in September 2020. On February 1, 2021, the vocalist was accused of abuse by former partner Evan Rachel Wood, with four other women simultaneously posting allegations on social media. Manson denied the allegations, and accused Wood of orchestrating a "coordinated attack". The band was immediately dropped by their record label, talent agency, and longtime manager. Five women filed civil lawsuits against Manson. Two of these were settled out of court, one is ongoing, one was dismissed, while another was withdrawn after the accuser said she was "manipulated and pressured" by Wood and her associates to make false accusations.
Manson filed a civil suit against Wood in 2022, but dropped the lawsuit two years later after the judge in preliminary hearings refused to allow evidence to be presented at the eventual trial, including the refutation of a former accuser. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and a division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office conducted a four-year criminal investigation of the abuse allegations. The investigation resulted in no charges being filed against Manson for domestic violence or sexual assault, with a lack of evidence and the statute of limitations cited as the reasons.
The album was recorded between April 2023 and April 2024 at producer Tyler Bates's Los Angeles recording studio The Abattoir, with additional recording taking place at NRG Studios in North Hollywood on July 1 and 2, 2023, and at EastWest Studios in Hollywood on September 25 and 26, 2023. Manson, Bates, and drummer Gil Sharone performed the majority of instrumentation, with Lola Colette and Maxwell Urasky performing piano and programming, respectively, on the track "As Sick as the Secrets Within". Bates and Sharone were Manson's primary collaborators on two of the band's previous albums, The Pale Emperor (2015) and Heaven Upside Down (2017).
Composition and style
Reviews have ascribed to the album numerous genres, including industrial rock, industrial metal, alternative rock, gothic rock and rock in general. The record is a direct response to the abuse allegations. Blabbermouth.net said the record contains "overt and covert references to his recent troubles, and the overall impression is of a man enraged by what he sees as destructive lies about his personal life." A staff writer for Sputnikmusic compared the album's lyricism to the lyrics on the band's 2000 album Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). They said that "controversy and pressure are the fuel that ignite Marilyn Manson into action, and through his trials and tribulations he's able to harness some truly fantastic music". Lyrics on the album deal with themes of betrayal, addiction and healing, as well as power and religion, and mortality and societal decay.
In the lyrics of the first track on the album, "One Assassination Under God", Manson discusses the media's reaction to the abuse allegations. The song opens with Manson reciting a poem referencing the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It is a goth metal song that gradually expands to an aggressive outro. Sonic Abuse praised Manson's vocals, describing them as some of the best he ever recorded, and said it was one of the "most affecting" songs the band has recorded. Similarly, New Transcendence praised Manson's vocals for their "raw intensity", as well as instrumentation that builds to a "cathartic climax" and leaves a "lasting impression."
"No Funeral Without Applause" features guitars inspired by post-punk, with Blabbermouth saying the song "continues the elegant, restrained heaviness" of the opening track. Sputnikmusic said its instrumentation was comparable to the band's work between 2003's The Golden Age of Grotesque and 2015's The Pale Emperor, while Sonic Abuse described the song as a "spiritual sequel" to their 1995 cover of Eurythmics's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)". Several other reviews compared the song to the cover of "Sweet Dreams". Crytpic Rock said the lyric "takes jabs at those who wronged Manson. On the same note, he laments his last true love as it starts almost sweet. He is like Pennywise, unassuming... until he opens his mouth. Then, all hell breaks loose as the decibels rise".
"Nod If You Understand" is one of the heaviest songs on the record, with numerous reviews comparing it to the material found on the band's 1996 album Antichrist Superstar. Sputnikmusic said the track "goes into full-blown Antichrist Superstar mode", and called it a "declaration of war on all his detractors". KNAC said the song contains the "rage and theatricality" of Antichrist Superstar, while AllMusic called the song "rabid". Blabbermouth described it as a mixture of industrial and punk rock with metal riffs. New Transcendence said the song finds the band returning to their industrial metal roots, and that the song's lyric is "filled with dark imagery and social commentary." Sonic Abuse said the song "impressively recaptures the raw energy of Manson's early work", calling it one of the album's "finest moments". Spotlight Report said the track is "exactly what fans have been waiting and hoping for", while Metal Planet Music said of the song: "This is it. This is what this album needed to be."
"As Sick as the Secrets Within" is a synthesizer-led goth rock song, with the lyric exploring themes of addiction and self-destruction. Sputnikmusic said the lyric examines a life "wrought in addiction and not worth much of anything." They praised Manson's vocal and Bates' production, noting the song implements styles from several of the band's previous albums. They dubbed it the "best" and "most emotionally charged" track the band had released since Holy Wood. Sonic Abuse said the song is an example of where Manson's "more theatrical sensibilities combine with Tyler Bates's strengths as a composer". They said the song "takes the astringent guitars of The Pale Emperor as a starting point", but takes "a surprising left step into Mechanical Animals territory via 'Coma White'". Metal Planet Music described it as a "wonderful mix of sharp vocals, loud monstrous guitar, gentle piano and a sturdy smack of percussion". Spotlight Report said the song is "definitely the best Manson has been for quite some time and damn it sounds good."
The lyrics of "Sacrilegious" examines a perceived hypocrisy of religion, in which the death of a savior is glorified. Manson instead argues: "You should have treated your saviors better." AllMusic called it "bouncy pop-metal". Numerous reviews compared it to "The Beautiful People", while KNAC compared it to the Antichrist Superstar song "Mister Superstar".
Sonic Abuse described "Death Is Not a Costume" as a turning point for the album. Their writer said it was darker in tone than the previous tracks, comparing the guitar work on the song to Reeves Gabrels' work with The Cure. The lyrics portray an imagined conversation between Manson and Jesus Christ, where Manson says: "I wish I knew you when you were alive." It explores themes of mortality and the fear of death. The track contains elements of post-rock, and gradually increases in intensity. Cryptic Rock noted lyrical similarities to the David Bowie song "Lazarus". They said "Lazarus" found Bowie "acknowledging his mortality with having terminal cancer. Manson's track, on the other hand, does not do that, although it talks about death... like someone's dead to him".
Greg Burk of Metal Jazz said the lyric of "Meet Me in Purgatory" finds Manson asking the listener if they would "stand in the way when they come to murder him. Hubris? Of course. Paranoia? No, look around, it's a fair question. His career was damaged, but he says he's back, and he's right. Strangely, his value has increased. As a target." Sonic Abuse said the song was "less impressive" lyrically when compared to other songs on the album, noting it opts for "repetition over exposition, which is a shame, because the central conceit – that it's far easier to judge over social media than hold up a mirror to your own concerns – is one worth exploring." They described the song musically as a "gritty post-punk inflected piece". Metal Planet Music said the track "isn't complicated, it's just rooted in a darker version of pop".
"Raise the Red Flag" is a heavy metal song, with Metal Planet Music calling it "massive" and a "distorted, bass thumping, great noise of a track!" The title is a pun based on the white flag, a symbol of surrender. The chorus consists of the lyric: "It's time to beat up the bullies/And wash the bullseye off my back/My red flag is your white one soaked in blood." Sonic Abuse compared the lyric to those on the band's 1995 single "Lunchbox", describing it as a "satisfyingly crunchy track" with "stabbing industrial" elements. Sputnikmusic called it a "full-blown rock anthem" that blends the musical styles of Holy Wood and The Golden Age of Grotesque.
The final song on the album is "Sacrifice of the Mass". The title is a reference to the Eucharist, a Christian rite related to the Crucifixion of Jesus. The song is over six minutes in length. The lyric explore themes of religion and spirituality. It finds Manson imagining his own funeral, and contains references to the deaths of his parents. The song's instrumentation features progressive rock elements, beginning with acoustic guitar and keyboards, and gradually expands throughout its duration. Metal Jazz compared the guitar solo at the end to the work of Procol Harum guitarist Robin Trower. Sonic Abuse compared the track to "Man That You Fear" and "Day 3". They said that like those two songs, "Sacrifice of the Mass" finds Manson "singing of his death, seemingly reflecting on the forces he unleashed when he first took on the Manson persona." A writer for Spotlight Report described it as a "haunting finale" and "one hell of an atmospheric end to the record. It stuck with me for quite some time after it was done."
Release and promotion