Track Listing

1. Sax Rohmer, Pt. 1
2. San Bernardino
3. Heretic Pride
4. Autoclave
5. New Zion
6. So Desperate
7. In the Craters on the Moon
8. Lovecraft in Brooklyn
9. Tianchi Lake
10. How to Embrace a Swamp Creature
11. Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident
12. Sept. 15, 1983
13. Michael Myers Resplendent

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47575 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-19
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

The Mountain Goats Return to their Roots on Heretic Pride
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.

TMG's are still at it.
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.

Excellent - Darnielle's Still Got It
The Mountain Goats' latest venture is a phenomenal piece of pop art that rarely fails to impress. It's less autobiographical and personal than some of Darnielle's later work, like The Sunset Tree, but it's so full of well-versed accoustic melodies and pop/folk singalongs that it's not a bad thing. after the initial obsession with catchier songs like "Heretic Pride", you'll find yourself litening to the moodier songs over and over again (Lovecraft in Brooklyn is a gem).