Who knew Marilyn had a heart? Let alone one that could be broken?

Not us, certainly. Yet that's the shape we find the shock-rock Antichrist Superstar in as he sits alone and brooding on his sixth studio album Eat Me, Drink Me.

Jilted and humiliated by his burlesque pinup queen Dita Von Teese, Manson spends most of his first CD in four years slashing his wrists and pouring his bitterness into the blood-soaked poison-pen-letters that set the pitch-black tone for this set of plodding, macabre gloomfests.

"I should have picked the photograph," he sneers at one point. "It lasted longer than you."

So much for staying friends. But it could be worse -- at least he got custody of the makeup.

How does he hate her? Let us recount the ways:

If I Was Your Vampire 5:56

A sluggishly plodding beat. A twangy low-neck guitar lick. Cavernous echo. World-weary vocals that creak like the Munsters' front door. Lyrics about bloodsuckers on Christmas morning. And a trite quiet-verse loud-chorus construction. This isn't the strongest opening cut for a Manson album. But it does let you know what you're in for on this gloomy disc.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "You press the knife against your heart and say 'I love you so much you must kill me now.' "

Putting Holes in Happiness 4:31

Another dreary, draggy beat -- but this time it's decorated with glammy power-chord guitars and a Bowiesque chorus. A step in the right direction.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "It was a day to take the child out back and shoot it."

The Red Carpet Grave 4:05

The beat is bouncier. The guitars are clangy. The bassline is kinda funky. There are loopy synthesizers and freaky processed guitar

solos. It's a long way from upbeat -- but it's about as close as

Manson gets.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "It's easy to beat the system / Had a hard time beating the symptoms."

They Said Hell's Not Hot 4:16

We go back to the doldrums with another slow-burning goth-glam groove, another quiet-verse loud-chorus setup, some funeral organs and more lyrics about romantic immolation. At least he's consistent.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "I gave my soul to someone else / She must have known that it was already sold."

Just a Car Crash Away 4:54

Remember those great girl-group car-crash ballads of the '50s? Manson updates the genre with this disturbingly soulful ghoul-group waltz that pays tribute to grisly death and undying love.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "She blew me her death-kiss and the mouth-marks bled down my eyes."

Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand) 5:05

The album's first single -- and no wonder. It's easily the disc's most accessible cut, with a post-disco groove and chiming guitars nicked from Bowie's Ashes to Ashes -- not to mention lyrics that are almost romantic.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "I don't mind you keeping me on pins and needles, if I could stick to you."

Evidence 5:19

The harpsichord-like keyboard and the thumpy midtempo tom-tom beat make for an interesting combination. The woozy guitars on the bridge take it up a notch. The only thing missing: A strong chorus.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "Head's blown clean off / Your mouth's paid off."

Are You the Rabbit 4:14

It's sort of a zombified slow-rolling dirge-boogie a la Iggy's Niteclubbing -- but turbocharged with power-chord guitar riffs that make it sound like some sort of demonic rewrite of Rocky Mountain Way.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "I'm a kick-stand in your mouth / And I'm the tongue slamming on the brakes."

Mutilation is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery 3:52

We're not sure what young upstarts Manson is accusing of ripping him off on this menacing little salvo of glam-rock boogie -- but we wouldn't want to be in their platform shoes.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "F-- you, f-- you, f-- you too."

You and Me and the Devil Makes 3 4:24

The drums pound out a bump-and-grind beat. The guitars scritch, scratch and buzz about like angry mosquitos. Manson breathes in your ear and moans about a most unholy menage a trois. A highlight.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "There's not a word for what I want to do to you."

Eat Me, Drink Me 5:40

We end as we began -- with a molasses-slow groove, creepy haunted-house overtones, fever-dream textures and another croaky vocal from Satan's right-hand cross-dresser.

GOTHIEST LYRIC: "I was invited to a beheading today."