CD: "Mr. Beast" by Mogwai; Matador Records

Release: March 7

My take: Scottish post-rock pioneers Mogwai eschew singing, instead using music to convey emotion. Think classical music with searing electric guitars, driving drumbeats and twinkling keyboards with the occasional violin and you've got the basic recipe for post-rock. Mogwai brought the genre to the forefront of the college-rock scene with its stunning debut, "Young Team."

Mogwai's manager, Alan McGee, said he thought the heavily anticipated "Mr. Beast" was "possibly better than 'Loveless,' " referring to My Bloody Valentine's last album, considered by many to be the holy grail of indie rock 'n' roll. (Could that be bias? McGee also headed Creation Records, which put out "Loveless" and was subsequently bankrupted by the album's exorbitant recording costs.)

The disc kicks off with "Auto Rock," a light piece led by pianos and brimming with synths. It almost lulls the listener to sleep, offering a calm before the storm. Mogwai, it should be noted, has said its only goal was to be the loudest band on the planet. This becomes apparent on the next track, "Glasgow Mega Snake," a distorted-guitar assault on the ears — in a good way, of course.

"Mr. Beast" is indeed Mogwai's loudest album since "Young Team," and the band has put out three studio albums since then. But the songs on "Mr. Beast," such as "Glasgow Mega Snake," are loud simply because the guitars are so heavily distorted and pumped so far up in the mix. The result is a loud song, but with no juice behind the music. "Mr. Beast" doesn't feel like the team effort that marked previous Mogwai albums, as the guitars do the work the entire band should be doing.

The next song, "Acid Food," is a spare guitar- and drum-machine-led track with vocals, very similar to the Mogwai classics "Take Me Somewhere Nice" and "R U Still In 2 It?" "Acid Food" is very beautiful, as is "I Chose Horses," another subdued piece with vocals, this time in Japanese. The songs "Travel is Dangerous," "Folk Death 95" and "We're No Here" are almost vintage Mogwai tracks, but again they rely too heavily on distorted guitar. The songs lose a lot of power to overproduction and a lack of the grit that make Mogwai's previous loud tunes so powerful.

"Mr. Beast" is Mogwai's most commercial album yet. While most rock bands' songs rarely stray past the 5-minute mark, post-rock bands are unafraid to construct 15-minute epics. Mogwai used to follow this rule, but on "Mr. Beast," no song runs longer than 6 minutes. While this is good news for listeners with short attention spans, it hurts the record overall.

The songs are best when the band stretches out and builds soft pieces into roaring explosions of sound. The songs here all feel condensed. "Mr. Beast" may be the loud, noisy record the band has always wanted to make, but it comes off as empty and not very fulfilling. "Young Team," released nine years ago, is still Mogwai's best.

Joshua Masayoshi Huff, a graduate of Moanalua High School, attends George Washington University in Washington, D.C.