Search - Mountain Goats :: Heretic Pride (Dig)

The Mountain Goats Return to their Roots on Heretic Pride

Allison R. Scouten | Toledo, Ohio United States | 02/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After a highly produced sound on his last album, John Darnielle strips down and returns to a grittier sound. This is the first album since "Coroner's Gambit" to lack an obvious central theme, but the charm and introspection of John's lyrics are not lost. John's characters are back, and doing what they know best. They join cults, are accused of being heretics, they huddle in cars together. Each song is its own little story and you truly feel for the characters.



I have been playing this album nonstop since it arrived in the mail last week. The orchestration/instrumentation is absolutely beautiful. It's very raw sounding, which i missed dearly on the last album "Get Lonely". I disagree with the reviewer that claims the instrumentation is a departure from their previous work. On the contrary, this album sounds more like previous albums such as "The Sunset Tree" and "Tallahassee". Songs such as "Sax Rohmer #1" and "Heretic Pride" have that familiar furious, frenetic driving rhythm which characterizes so much of the Mountain Goats work.



John's lyrics are as beautiful and instrospective as ever. I'd recommend this album to anyone."

Goat Evolution

James Maxey | Hillsborough, NC United States | 03/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow. This has been the only album in my CD player since I picked it up. I keep finding new favorite tracks to obsess about. So far, I've been fixated on "Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident," "Autoclave," "In the Craters of the Moon," and "Lovecraft in Brooklyn," certain that each was my new favorite Mountain Goat song. When the album Get Lonely came out I was disappointed. I wondered if John Darnielle might have finally tapped out the creative vein he'd been mining for over a dozen albums. Every artist has to face that crisis eventually--after you release over three hundred songs like the Goat's have, it seems almost inevitable that eventually you start repeating yourself, or begin to parody your own work, or else veer so wildly from your roots into new territory that your old fans barely recognize you.



Yet, with Heretic Pride, John has managed to evolve, creating a sound that is different from what he's done before, yet still firmly rooted in the elements that make the Goat's so great--the unbeatable lyrics and the rawness and urgency of the music. The production values here are nothing like his low-fi days, but if you listen to the emotion on a song like "Craters of the Moon," you can hear something approaching panic driving the music, a fiery energy that sounds as if John must shout out the words now, as if his life depends on you listening to his vital message. I'm probably doing myself permanent hearing damage whenever I listen to "Lovecraft in Brooklyn," because I can't listen to the last lyric rush without cranking the volume in my car to the max, to better match the frantic tone of John's apocalyptic vision. This album is the next step in the evolution of the Mountain Goats, and quite possibly the first shot in a Mountain Goat revolution that will earn this band the wider following that it deserves."

TMG's are still at it.

William Hoffknecht | Fernley, NV | 04/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So the Mountain Goats are still in the game with John Darnielle still in the lead as one of the GREATEST songwriters ever.

If you are an old school fan of TMG's, then you probably will not like this album. It still lacks the raw power of acoustimatic/tape music with the simplicity of just guitar and vocals, but also, if you were turned off by the slowness of "Get Lonely", then do not fret, this album brings back some of the great driving riffs that we have all come to know and love.

I recommend this album on vinyl over cd, but I recommend almost any album on vinyl instead of cd.

I place this album within his top 5 releases.

Strong Points:

The opening track, Saw Rohmer #1 sets the pace for the album, good strong beats and the closing track (Not counting the bonus tracks that are available online), "Michael Myers Resplendent" starts slow, but really closes the album beautifully.

Low Points:

The songs "New Zion" (Do not get me wrong, I like the track, but it is a low point of the album) and "Craters of the Moon" are the weakest songs, but are in the middle chunk of the album so they kind of slide by nicely as well.

This is also the first album with an official drummer, Jon Wurster, who recorded and is touring with them now.



In the end, check it out for sure if you like good alt/indie rock. If you miss the folk/tape music styles of the older TMG's, then you might want to pass."