Mogwai
The Bad Fire


3.3
great

Review

by Raul Stanciu STAFF
January 31st, 2025 | 62 replies


Release Date: 01/24/2025 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Feels comfortable.

The post-rock titans are back with The Bad Fire, a record whose title stems from a working class Scottish term for hell. It represents the rough times they went through during the last few years, with stories of loss hinted at in the lyrics throughout the few songs that have. Right from the beginning there is a familiar feel to the music, the Glaswegian quartet sinking us once more into their atmospheric universe of glacial keyboard leads over intertwining guitar and bass progressions. As usual, it is an album which requires a full listen to properly unfold, especially since the singles are the main upbeat, pop-oriented moments. “God Gets You Back”, for example, toys with arena sized synths, whereas underneath the rhythm section slowly boils until kicking into a swinging, shoegaze groove. A similar vibe comes from “Lion Rumpus”, albeit in a flashier rock style, boasting glorious guitar solos amid sturdy, low end rich bass lines. Meanwhile, “Fanzine Made of Flesh” takes the ‘90s alt-rock route, complete with trademark vocoder assisted singing from Stuart Braithwaite. All these are welcomed additions, due to a longer period of time where the group seemed to favor slow to mid-tempo material.

Digging further into The Bad Fire, we can find more diversity and occasional throwbacks to earlier eras too. “If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others” offers that classic Mogwai sonic tension, growing from a rather quiet, uncanny riff to a fuzzy second half. “Hi Chaos” also unleashes heavy, effect-laden guitar washes after rounds of playful opening chords. The decision to partly shed the glossy production of its predecessor has its ups and downs in this case. The compression level does not truly allow the distortion to blow you away either. It’s a shame since there are a number of noisy parts which could have sent shivers down your spine in a more rounded mix. “18 Volcanoes” goes through the same sonic process, blending meaty bass and guitar riffs in a My Bloody Valentine fashion. This shoegazing ditty is more suitable for the respective production choices, as the rhythm section follows the same pattern. It’s when the members launch into disparate, layered segments, that the details turn out slightly murky.

From the toned down songs on the LP, “Pale Vegan Hip Pain” shares a lovely, bittersweet melody, augmented by interesting, fragmenting synths around it. Moreover, closing number, “Fact Boy” is a nice, ethereal lullaby with various embellishing electronic elements that gradually dissolve away during the coda. A sweet way to end The Bad Fire, an album that ultimately wishes to fuse the immersive, even arena-esque leads of recent material with the 2000s, rock oriented Mogwai. Overall, it ended up just fine, despite the often contrasting production styles of the two eras. However, the too familiar feeling of the material stops the record from ranking higher in their catalog. Although there are a handful of highlights, the group has settled into a comfort zone from which good tracks emerge effortlessly, but nothing outstanding.




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user ratings (59)
3.3
great

Comments:Add a Comment 
insomniac15
Staff Reviewer
January 31st 2025


6275 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

A nice, comfortable Mogwai record IMO. A handful of highlights and familiar moments



Stream here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGksq1uxJHk&list=OLAK5uy_n7PMDLN2g9mlBs-8Q4xkaVtqKsLtXiSs8&index=2

hel9000
January 31st 2025


1621 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Good review. More Mogwai is never a bad thing but yeah there wasn’t really anything here that excited me. At this point I’d be most interested in them doing a full on alt rock album in the style of Teenage Exorcists/Party in the Dark/We’re Not Done etc.

Odal
Staff Reviewer
January 31st 2025


2654 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

Rating is on point.



I do agree that Mogwai would probably best be served to just make an alt-rock album at this point, but the post-rock stuff here is inoffensive. Their ceiling has definitely be lowered, but they still put out worthwhile stuff

insomniac15
Staff Reviewer
January 31st 2025


6275 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

Thanks. Yes, an alternative rock record would be cool or simply just go the opposite of what they feel like doing for a change. At times, it sounds like they wanted to shake things a bit but retreated back to a comfortable zone too soon.

Futures
January 31st 2025


13990 Comments


remember trying rave tapes and thinking it was really boring but i do want to give this one a go. nice little rev here, the alt rock mention piques my ears for sure.

Odal
Staff Reviewer
January 31st 2025


2654 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

Fanzine is an excellent proof of concept for them. They should just do a whole album of that

Flashmobba
January 31st 2025


2483 Comments


i feel like there’s a limited amount of post-rock songs you can make before they just become stale, more so than any other genre

Gyromania
February 1st 2025


37664 Comments


Can someone tell me if there’s anything on here remotely close to Midnight Flit?

kkarron
February 1st 2025


1683 Comments


This defo dropped with no fanfare.

Will give this a go but probably agreed with Flash. Not sure they have much new or unique in them, but their shtick is still enjoyable.

keaton_86
February 1st 2025


998 Comments


I find every mogwai album has one absolute hummer, 2 decent songs and a lot of filler.

insomniac15
Staff Reviewer
February 1st 2025


6275 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

@Gyro - maybe Hi Chaos and God Gets You Back, but I didn't find anything that similar with Midnight Flit here

Mongi123
February 1st 2025


22157 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

This doesn’t sound like them at all, and not in the good way.

Demon of the Fall
February 1st 2025


36856 Comments


no way is Mogwai in 2025 gonna be worth listening to

and if this is accurate…

“Whirr Raw Blue
Russian Circles Guidance
Godspeed You! Black Emperor NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD
God Is an Astronaut Embers”

I’m out!

Mongi123
February 1st 2025


22157 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Those are quite possibly the worst recs to represent this album it sounds NOTHING like them.

insomniac15
Staff Reviewer
February 2nd 2025


6275 Comments

Album Rating: 3.3

Those are not records that sound exactly like this one. I listed them because you might enjoy them if you are listening to Mogwai . Feel free to add recs that sound like The Bad Fire

Mongi123
February 2nd 2025


22157 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

The autism came out too much sorry for the tude. Mogwai is a great band I hate the slander

Demon of the Fall
February 2nd 2025


36856 Comments


to be fair it’s a middling score and thus perhaps you were simply recommending other post-ish rock bands that are way past their peak (at least in GY!BE’s and Russian Circles’s cases (did GiaA have a peak?!)

JohnnyoftheWell
Staff Reviewer
February 2nd 2025


63239 Comments


whatever level of slander Mogwai deserve in 2025, I'd be amazed if they've fallen to the point of Whirr comparisons

Demon of the Fall
February 2nd 2025


36856 Comments


yeah I mean Whirr aren’t great but recent Mogwai are close enough to their level, lol

having not heard this, I was mostly perplexed by that parallel tbh

Pikazilla
February 2nd 2025


31638 Comments


whirr are trash indeed

this has some alright songs, but at this point, it's more of the same but ever so slightly worse with Mogwai on every subsequent release

hardcore will never die but demon will



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