"Mogwai Fear Satan" (sometimes referred to as "Fear Satan") is an instrumental by Scottish

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

group Mogwai. It appears as the closing track for their 1997 debut studio album, ''

Mogwai Young Team ''Mogwai Young Team'' (also known as ''Young Team'') is the debut studio album by Scottish post-rock band Mogwai. Produced by Paul Savage and Andy Miller, the album was released on 21 October 1997 through the Chemikal Underground record label. ...

''.

Overview

"Mogwai Fear Satan" is a 16-minute instrumental, using basic rock instrumentation: guitars, bass, and drums, along with flute. The origin of the song title stems from bassist Dominic Aitchison’s, the only religious member of Mogwai, fear of the Devil, due to his Catholic upbringing.

Musical composition

"Mogwai Fear Satan" begins with a guitar melody riff consisting of three

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

s by Stuart Braithwaite and John Cummings, which is soon joined by bass played by Dominic Aitchison and a frantic drumbeat played by Martin Bulloch, which gradually fades in. The same guitar riff is repeated throughout the song, at times heavily distorted. During the quiet parts of the song, in the buildup to the explosion of sound and

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...

which Mogwai are known for, there is a quiet

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

melody played by Shona Brown (who was thirteen at the time of recording) over tribal-sounding drums. The song slowly fades out into feedback and noise.

Media usage

* In 2002, a short excerpt of "Mogwai Fear Satan" was featured in " Eddie Kidd Rides Again", an episode of the documentary television program, '' RE:Brand'', hosted by English comedian and actor,

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...

. * It was also featured on soundtrack for '' WRC 4'', The Official Game of the FIA World Rally Championship on

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

. * Manic Street Preachers used the song as the intro music for their 2005 Past Present Future tour of the UK. * Repeatedly referred to in

Christopher Brookmyre Christopher Brookmyre (born 6 September 1968) is a Scottish novelist whose novels, generally in a crime or police procedural frame, mix comedy, politics, social comment and action with a strong narrative. He has been referred to as a Tartan No ...

's book '' Pandaemonium'' where a 28-minute remix has been created by some of the schoolchildren and played at a school dance. * Part of the song was used in the 2007 documentary '' The 11th Hour''. * A remix version of the song is used in the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

film ''

All the Real Girls ''All the Real Girls'' is a 2003 American romantic drama film written and directed by David Gordon Green and starring Paul Schneider, Zooey Deschanel, Shea Whigham and Patricia Clarkson. It is about the romance between a young, small-town womaniz ...

''.

Remixes

There are five official remixes of "Mogwai Fear Satan". The EP ''Mogwai Fear Satan Remixes'' (released in March, 1998) includes the Mogwai Remix, the μ-Ziq Remix, the

Surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

Remix, and the My Bloody Valentine Remix. The remix album '' Kicking a Dead Pig'' (released in May, 1998) features the Mogwai Remix, LP Version. A later re-issue of ''Kicking a Dead Pig'' included ''Mogwai Fear Satan Remixes'' on a separate CD. Both versions of the Mogwai Remix are remixed by "Cpt. Meat and pLasmatroN" (John Cummings and Stuart Braithwaite).

Personnel

* Stuart Braithwaite – guitar * Dominic Aitchison – bass guitar * John Cummings – guitar * Martin Bulloch – drums * Shona Brown – flute * Paul Savage – producer, mixer

References

{{authority control Mogwai songs 1997 songs Rock instrumentals Songs written by Stuart Braithwaite Songs written by Dominic Aitchison