MSTRKRFT – Fist Of God

Artist: MSTRKRFT
Album: Fist Of God
Label: Last Gang Records
Purchase: Amazon
Release Date: March 17th, 2009

Overall: 9
Music: 9
Lyrics: 8
Production: 9.5

The year is 2006, and MSTRKRFT’s debut album The Looks was paving the way for MSTRKRFT’s eventual take-over of the club scene by creating an album of infectious instrumentals, great instrumentation, and an insane vibe of: sex, sex, sex (all to apparent in their video for “Easy Love”). Now MSTRKRFT are back in 2009, with their official sophomore release Fist Of God.

The album starts off with opening track “It Ain’t Love” which kicks of with a hardcore synth loop, which is ultimately perfected with the addition of Lil’ Mo on the hook. “It Ain’t Love” feels really fast paced, but the hook allows it to slow down and repel any obnoxious repetitiveness that could be found on this opening track.

The next track “1000 Cigarettes” kicks the album into high gear with a great intro (courtesy of a strong electronically tinged guitar) that leads right into killer drums and synths that make the track undeniably exciting, and adrenaline pumping to the extreme. The tracking is very well placed in that the next song is the obvious single “Bounce” with N.O.R.E. and ISIS compliments, this song is bred to be played in any club all over.

This album is made for all different kinds of people; Even those who are not techno enthusiasts will find themselves humming along to tracks on Fist Of God. It’s hard to deny the catchiness of John Legend’s croon on “Heartbreaker” which changes the idea of techno as it plays with the many instrumental elements, while retaining the certain tenderness of a class R&B tune. While other people who are more into the technical side of techno will truly appreciate tracks like “VuVuVu” and the album’s title track “Fist of God” both bring out a great energy about them, that will undoubtably resonate with the techno crowd.

All in all Fist of God is an album for a lot of different people, there will always be a track on this album that will bring you in and make you enjoy it. It’s hard to deny songs like “So Deep” with their vocal catchiness. Or the gangster vibes courtesy of Ghostface Killah on “Word Up”. This album is a lot more intense and experimental then their debut, while still remaining light weight at times (See: “Breakaway”) It just goes to show that not every single techno artist needs to make ten minute opuses to drum and bass beats to be good. Sometimes all it takes is smart, catchy instrumentation to create a great, fun and enjoyable album made for everyone.