4.0 - I'm gobsmacked that I enjoyed this album as much as I did -- I'd written Marilyn Manson off as a poseur and a charlatan. And it certainly didn't help that he's been (rightfully) cancelled for some exceptionally violent and sordid behavior. But Manson gives voice to a misanthropy and self-loathing that I've never heard expressed with such fury . This record challenged me in ways I haven't felt since I first heard Black Sabbath's debut a couple years ago (also through this listening exercise). As always, I think Reznor produced this record masterfully, helping to flesh out these macabre musings into panoramic nightmare soundscapes that gnarl and twist and descend into bedlam and decay (listen to the cinematic "Man That You Fear"). I find the sound design fascinating, particularly in its treatment of guitar. Whereas much of heavy metal tends to exalt the guitar, embracing its rough and ragged edges, on here guitars sound synthesized and clipped, in order to meld with other sonic layers. It's a very different approach and I think it works, especially on songs like "Cryptorchid", which incorporates walls of electronics. I was expecting schlocky, B-movie horror effects and instead I admit that there are genuinely scary moments on here -- just listen to the robotic, uncanny-valley-like vocals at the end of "Antichrist Superstar."