On Matador Records’ second Scottish import of the year, post-rock quintet Mogwai returns to a heavier sound reminiscent of their full-length debut, 1997’s Young Team. Although still experimental in spirit and majestic in form, Mogwai abandons the grandiose 15-minute opus for a shorter, more traditional song structure that is just as cataclysmic and haunting.
The opening track, “Auto Rock,” begins delicately with descending piano notes, gradually gaining momentum as guitar fuzz and a thunderous, warlike beat build to an overwhelming level of suspense—then silence. The shot is never fired.
The sonic chaos promised by the dramatic resolution of “Auto Rock” is immediately delivered in full on the next song, “Glasgow Mega-Snake,” a relentless barrage of dualing distorted guitars.
If the opener left you willing to follow Mogwai to battle, the closer, “We’re No Here [sic],” will convince you to stick around for the end of the world. With its tempestuous onslaught of blistering guitars, spiraling to a screeching crescendo, this is the perfect soundtrack to apocalyptic destruction.
Although no track on Mr. Beast clocks in at more than 6 minutes, Mogwai have not lost their affinity for dramatic climaxes. The most ambitious song—and easily the most downloadable—is “Friend of the Night.” In characteristic fashion, it builds off of a simple melody, as a meandering piano cautiously wanders up and down the scale. One can almost hear a growing confidence in the sound as the instruments finally converge and swell into a breathtaking crescendo and diminuendo.
Mr. Beast is an ambitious art-rock achievement that never degenerates into mere noise. Although it frequently flirts with anarchy, the album generally maintains a coherent direction. Mogwai’s latest is a haunting tribute to the beauty of chaos and destruction.
