Beast Beast

With tune titles like "Glasgow Mega-Snake," "Acid Food," and "I Chose Horses," it should be clear Mogwai hasn’t taken any easy, mellowing departures on Mr. Beast. Sure, the album opens with the calming guitar atmospherics of "Auto Rock," but then "Glasgow Mega-Snake" comes bounding out with a crushing jog of a beat and a trademark granite slab of guitars. The Scots also indulge incrementally more beautiful and terrifying dreamscapes, especially the down-turned piano topping that hovers above a guitar storm on "Emergency Trap" and the layers of clear-toned melody that chime over a swirl of choked, feedback-drenched power on "Folk Death 95." There has long been talk of Scottish miserablism, and this colors and grinds the idea blissfully.

Preceding Beast Rest Forth Mouth is 2007’s Red Bloom of the Boom, a 7-track, 43-minute exploration that crosses the streams of psychedelia and prog. Pitchfork called it “a true cohesive work in an era when the album-as-art form appears to be slowly dying” (7.8), and The Onion found it “a powerful, functional mix of This Heat, ‘70s soft rock, early Genesis, and oddly, later Pink Floyd.” The album was further informed by a collection of remarkable music videos by the band and their collaborators, providing a mirror into both the creative scope of the Bear In Heaven consciousness, not to mention the day jobs they keep as editors, filmmakers, and designers. The packaging and visuals for Beast Rest Forth Mouth continue in this tradition, the band collaborating with artist Laura Brothers to create the tactile doorway into the sonic swirl of the album.

“The time is drawing near. The newborn BEAST is back with a vengeance, rising from the abyss with fortitude to spew its unrivaled heavy metal fury all over the world!” »Berserker« kicks off with the rapid opener 'Beast In Black'. “As well as the band name, this track was inspired by a character from the »Berserk« manga. And though the lyrics are directly connected to that character they are also speaking in metaphors about something personal. It’s one of the most powerful songs on the album and Kasperi’s guitar solo in this one is probably the best one on the whole album!” With 'Blind And Frozen', a super catchy and massive song follows. “Yannis' interpretation and performance here is nothing short of pure perfection,” the guitar wizard fancies.

After busy months of recording, producing and mixing in JKB Studios Helsinki (all of this done by the band members themselves – mastering was done by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios) BATTLE BEAST’s eponymous sophomore release “Battle Beast” (info | shop) will strike the scene like a lightning on May 17, 2013, consisting of the Finns’ trademark mixture of extremely catchy choruses, epic heavy metal anthems, heavenly vocals and solos to die for - brought to a new level of intensity and sound quality. With new astonishing lead vocalist Noora on board and a record in their hands that literally is strong as “steel“, BATTLE BEAST are facing a future brighter than a thousand suns. Beware: The Beasts are back!!!

After busy months of recording, producing and mixing in JKB Studios Helsinki (all of this done by the band members themselves – mastering was done by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios) BATTLE BEAST’s eponymous sophomore release “Battle Beast” (info | shop) will strike the scene like a lightning on May 17, 2013, consisting of the Finns’ trademark mixture of extremely catchy choruses, epic heavy metal anthems, heavenly vocals and solos to die for - brought to a new level of intensity and sound quality. With new astonishing lead vocalist Noora on board and a record in their hands that literally is strong as “steel“, BATTLE BEAST are facing a future brighter than a thousand suns. Beware: The Beasts are back!!!