Brian Warner must have been smoking something pretty spectacular when he boastfully claimed that he was reigning his musical direction back towards the Manson of the Antichrister Superstar era, because 'The High End Of Low' is about as close to that seminal piece of industrial-pop perfection as Hannah Montana. Interestingly, the album does recall past glories, but it is those of 1998's brilliant 'Mechanical Animals' that ring most familiar, with the glammy stomp of 'Arma...Geddon' and 'We're From America' proving that Manson still has some of his old bite left.

    Sadly, much of the record is also decidedly underwhelming, with fillers like 'Leave A Scar' and 'Blank And White' causing proceedings to become unnecessarily bloated. There are genuinely pleasant surprises, such as ambient ballads 'Four Rusted Horses' and the excellent 'Running To The End Of The World', but clumsy lyrics and cliché themes undermine many of the album's strong points. Ultimately, 'The High End Of Low' is leagues ahead of the atom bomb of turd that was 'Eat Me Drink Me', but is still no match for the likes of 'Holy Wood' or even 2003's 'The Golden Age Of Grotesque'. It may take something immense to stop Manson's ongoing slide into obscurity now.

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