The Mountain Goats
by Jessica Gentile • November 5, 2008
The Mountain Goats
Satanic Messiah EP
(Self-released, 2008)
John Darnielle has always dallied with the devil. His frequently documented obsession with satanic death metal has manifested itself all over his writing—whether he’s articulately blogging about it at Last Plane to Jakarta, or novelizing his infatuation, as in his 33 1/3 book about Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality. And there’s the classic Mountain Goats song “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton”, with its resounding coda of “Hail Satan!” (It’s more of a battle cry of defeated youth than actual devil worship.) So really, Satanic Messiah, which is available as a pay-what-you-wish download (vinyl editions are available in a limited edition of 666 copies… get it? 666!), might be the most predictably titled EP in the Goats’ oeuvre. However, its sound is anything but. These four tracks are a quiet, sparse, and piano-driven endeavor, not exactly the devil’s music.
Darnielle’s identifiably urgent yelp is surprisingly absent—in its place a more restrained, but just as earnest whisper. Despite the lack of hollering, there is still much intensity to be found within the quietude. In renowned Mountain Goat style, it’s all in the lyrics, or rather it is all the lyrics, as if a few basic chords exist for the sole reason of supporting the heady words of one songwriter alone. If you choose to ignore those words, Satanic Messiah would probably sound so innocuous that it could serve as musical wallpaper at the local Starbucks. But, as even the most casual Mountain Goats fans know, you don’t ignore them. In fact, the contrary—that’s why you listen in the first place.
The plaintive “Gojam Province 1968”, a reference to an Ethiopian tax rebellion, recounts the incident with lyrics of such anger and violence (“bashing in the heads of tax collectors and anybody else who’s in our way” goes one of the verses) that when juxtaposed with the subdued piano, take on an especially chilling quality. Anyone can scream their rage, but it takes real skill to sing it.
The other three songs are in similar accord, although “Wizard Buys a Hat” is a bit more ominous sounding. The song features creepy, high-pitched staccato strings and other such eerie atmospherics. Oh, in case you’re wondering, the lyrics are just as paranoid in sentiment. Darnielle sounds as if he’s constantly looking over his shoulder as he sings, “Feels like this town’s gonna put a quick end to me / But if I came here to drown, I’m gonna take a few people down.” Of all the four songs, this is the one that comes closest to living up to the EP's name.
The other two songs, the title track and “Sarcofago Live”, are also melodious as anything John Darnielle has written. And even if they are relatively mellow, they are never content. The Devil would never allow that.
Listen: Satanic Messiah EP [at satanicmessiah.com]
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The Mountain Goats – “Palmcorder Yajna” (The Independent, 3/1/2008)
