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Let This Beast Enter Your Mind

The fifth studio release of Mogwai, Mr. Beast, is not just another album, it's a very well thought adventure in music.

This venture can be classified as a bold attempt for greatness and the artists who worked on it weren't afraid to take risks, to experiment. It has the potential to be a polarizing figure in the music industry, much like the controversial effect online poker had on Internet entertainment, you'll either hate it or love it.

When I started working in this review, I never imagined that the mostly instrumental Mr. Beast could tell so much about the Scottish five-piece. Mogwai have revealed that they wanted to recreate the experience of their live act this time. I think they got it.

Mr. Beast offers their signature ear-melting bursts of sound along with delicate piano driven pieces, masterfully sequenced. You don't have to ask for heavy or light Mogwai; you get both in the package.

Mogwai's trademarked titles are the cover for the ten tracks that in little more than forty minutes demonstrate why these Glaswegian are one of the most admired post-rock bands in the world.

"We don’t really make any effort. It’s always usually some random nonsense that made us laugh", bassist Dominic Atchison admits when asked about the titles.

Mr. Beast opens with Auto Rock, where the subtle sounds of guitars wrap around Barry Burns' piano, following a simple but emotions-filled phrase. It sets the stage for the second piece.

Glasgow Mega Snake requires mega-volume. Ratchet up the volume; this song deserves it. Give that ol' Big Muff the power to run the show when furious guitars crash around.

The next movement is Acid Food, where computer generated sounds and a peculiar lap steel guitar dominate. There's something unmogwaian in this track: lyrics. But don't worry, they're meaningless (or I just suck and can't get it). The voice is another instrument; one more layer on the composition.

In Travel Is Dangerous, percussion, bass and distorted guitars take us back to the powerful Mog style, with Stuart Braithwaite singing about... something, and possibly using a vocoder (is it true they got it on Ebay?).

Team Handed gets you into meditative state while a soft piano leads the way once more.

Mogwai have made of Mr. Beast a roller coaster of emotions and sound. Listen to the tracks in their original order. What used to be the style of one song has become the signature of a whole album.

Friend of the Night is a fantastic aural journey. Close your eyes and let your mind drift. I feel like I'm falling through my thoughts when I do it. Mesmerizing gorgeous piece.

Percussion and the omnipresent piano lead you and build a road in your mind during the first part, chasing a climax that it's not there yet.

When the change arrives the song starts again. You can see a light at the end now; a way out.

Crescendo asks you to follow it and now you don't want it to end. A wall of sound appears. It's loudest Mogwai. A magic moment. Uncontrollable and, for me, the highest moment of this beast.

Emergency Trap is another light cut with piano as the main character. A repeating sequence of sounds with guitars menacing to attack.

Folk Death 95, I love that name, has drums setting the pace for guitar driven melodies until the explosion occurs. Blurred noise that goes up to your brain.

I Chose Horses is a beautiful song that includes Japanese whispers by Tetsuya Fukagawa, of hardcore band Envy, and ridden by Craig Armstrong's composed keyboards. Touching. Hell yeah.

Omoku taresagaru yuuutsu no katachi wo omoiukabe

And what's Tetsuya saying? Even Mogwai don't know. They saw the translation in English but even so was hard to grasp. "Honestly, it’s quite deep, but I don’t know," Dominic Atchison said.

The mystery of those subtle and strange words is part of the magic and melancholy in the music.

The grand finale belongs to We're No Here, a suspense-building guitar riff, a powerful and dense march toward Mr. Beast's glory.

A dramatic ending for an epic album.

Ladies and gentlemen: Mogwai.