THE MARS VOLTA

Track 1 - Son Et Lumiere

Sound effects fade in, and a keyboard rhythm emerges. Vocals join in with effects on them. The band joins in with some accents. Leading to the first full length track:

Track 2 - Inertiatic ESP

Fast tempo, and high-pitched vocals. High energy song, I like it. I like the tremolo-picked guitar part. Things change just after the 2-minute mark. A little jazz-fusiony for a moment. There are some dissonant guitar feedback parts, but it works. We end in a quick 3-4 time (that gets slower) and some unusual guitar sounds and effects. This leads to?

Track 3 - Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)

After some connecting sound effects, we have a very fast riff, joined by vocals. Then the tempo changes to a slower 6-8, and the music mellows out a bit. Then the dynamics increase. Loathe of Loud/Soft sections, then the fast riff returns. There are more time changes than I can type fast enough to keep up with! We have a bit of a chaotic instrumental break. The time and tempo changes keep it interesting. There is a very mellow instrumental break/guitar solo at around 5 and a half minutes into the song. Sound effects fade the song out and lead to?.

Track 4 - Tira Me A Las Aranas

The sound effects give way to an acoustic 12-String guitar that sounds slightly out of tune (but I think it's intentional, for effect) Some electric sounds join over the top, and sustained sounds lead to?

Track 5 - Drunkship of Lanterns

Very fast tempo with a complex meter, and guitar with delay effects. Vocals join in and there are some nice harmonies. Occasional accents from the band. The playing is very tight! I would call portions of this track "controlled chaos", but they hold it together nicely. The vocals may be an acquired taste for some, but I like it in the context of the song. Interesting sound-effects and guitar sounds take over at around the 4-minute mark. We have a guitar solo break at around 5 minutes. Sound effects take over again at around 6 minutes with a subtle bass rhythm keeping things together. Then different sound effects lead to?

Track 6 - Eriatarka

A short guitar/drum riff starts us off here, then the tempo slows to an arpeggiated guitar pattern, joined by vocals. We are in 6-8 and feeling kind of floaty. Big power chords lead to a fast complex rhythm and vocals. Sound effects briefly take over, then we are back to 6-8 with a short guitar break and another verse. Fast tempo kicks back in around 3:20. Again there are a number of tempo and time changes as well as "feel" changes that keep the track very interesting. Loving it! Once again, the track ends with sound effects that carry us to the next track?

Track 7 - Cicatriz ESP

At 12:29, this is easily the longest track by nearly 4 minutes over the next longest. An underlying driving rhythm propels the song forward with vocals on top. There are guitar flourishes over the top of everything. The music stops briefly then it sounds like a helicopter and then a fast tempo section. The music returns to the previous riff and another verse. The chorus explodes! An instrumental break follows. After that, the music chills out. Surprisingly, I am feeling a lot of Led Zeppelin influence on this track. The drumming is giving Bonzo vibes, and the guitar playing is kind of experimental-Page influenced style. And it feels like JPJ on the electric piano behind it all. After the instrumental break, we have a section that reminds me of a cross between the bowed-guitar of Dazed & Confused and the quieter part of By-Tor and the Snow Dog by Rush. This section is quite lengthy. Drums start bringing the rhythm section back at around 9:15. Now we have Santana vibes! We come back to the initial rhythm and another verse & explosive chorus. This is a great 21st century prog song!

Track 8 - This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed

We begin with sound effects here. Then a guitar with many effects starts a rhythm and the band kicks in with a very fast tempo again. The bass & drums keep things moving with guitar flourishes over the top of the vocals, then the full band comes back in. The pattern repeats itself following that. Lots of excitement on this track! The ending is a bit noisy with a looped drum sound, and abrupt finish.

Track 9 - Televators

This one starts out quite quietly with soft distant bird chirping and nature sounds. The song fades in with finger- style acoustic guitar and clean electric guitar accents, then a melodic vocal part. The opening verse is very peaceful, but then begins to build in intensity. A sustained guitar part leads us to the next verse. This one reminds me a bit of pre-Dark-Side Floyd. 6-8 time with bongo drums underneath, ending in, you guessed it, sound-effects.

Track 10 - Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt

A quick tempo starts us off here. It gets even quicker on the chorus. BTW, Cerpin Taxt is the subject of the concept album. At around the 3-minute mark everything stops except sustained keyboard sounds, (mellotron, perhaps?) Then a dissonant guitar pattern begins to take over. We get a very proggy instrumental break following that. Then the bass takes over with a solo. The band comes back in with a nice smooth groove. A cool guitar solo follows. Feeling a bit "jam band" here. Then the fast tempo kicks back in for another verse. A big exciting final coda hits next.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

I have to say that this album exceeded my expectations! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is definitely "experimental", but not to the point that there are no song structures. The music was constantly changing in interesting ways. I didn't feel like it was all blending together. On the downside, the sound effects might be a bit excessive between songs, but it doesn't take away from the overall experience too much. Not one of my all-time favorites, but very good, nonetheless. I give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

In terms of alt prog, I think Deloused was the genre's Fragile, but Frances The Mute is the genre's Close To The Edge. I consider this, namely in the fact this is a big album for me, as it really made me wish to push myself to look further into this strange and wild world of prog rock. I listened to this album in late 2021, and at the time I never really liked The Mars Volta all too much, but when I listened to Frances for the first time, I really knew this was an album that is worthy of being called a masterpiece, but it wouldn't be a little later into 2022 that I knew WHY this album is a masterclass of prog rock.

For one, compared to the bombastic but very controlled Deloused, Frances marks when The Mars Volta went from boys to men, as they matured dramatically, not only in music, but in creativity, and just straight up bizarreness. The music here is this chaotic butchery of what Deloused put down, and not only rips it to shreds, but rebuilds it into this weird mix of psychedelic infused latino rock, jazz, hardcore, avant garde rock, drone, and just so much more. They also cranked the latino and hispanic scores to 11, with scores written in a more latino-focused sound and energy, utilizing rhythms that ferment through salsa sounds, and moments of samba, with lyrics often times written and sung in Spanish, such as L'via L'viaquez and Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus.

At first, this strange mix of various styles, genres, and sounds may seem like it'd be the worst time ever, and to those who do think this, I can totally get it, but I just absolutely love it. The band pulls this giant, chaotic bull by the horns, and rides it until the very end. This disorganized but energetic and lively music is what I drive for with The Mars Volta, and is a big reason why this album always struck me as amazing since it does it the best.

This album isn't all chaos though, there are a lot of downtimes in the songs too, namely The Widow and Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore. While I love the fast and hardcore rhythms and energy found here, the times of slow, reflective, but equally bizarre music just washes over me, and I love every second of them. This also goes for the ambient and drone pieces from song to song. While it is very divided among fans, and I do see why, I think they are a neat and actually needed element, to let each song settle and transition smoothly into the next. I feel like removing that part of the album just wouldn't work as well, and in fact, would actually ruin the album for me personally.

I think another factor I really love about this album is just the bizarreness of it all, with lyrics containing nonsensical phrases and descriptions, but it is stuff that Cedric sings with such energy and power, that, while I may not understand fully what he is trying to portray, I can definitely feel the energy, so I don't even care, I am here along the ride, no matter what you have to say.

Speaking of Cedric, the musicianship here is just immaculate. Omar, Cedric, and the rest of the band put forth this cathartic instrumental palette that I will eat up anytime, anywhere, and in their giant substream of sounds do I just feel their energy flow through me. Sure, the energy may be extreme and even a little dark and scary, but I live for the fear here, and I think people who may not like this album should take this album into, not one that is the same prog fanfare of Renaissance, or King Crimson, but one that isn't fanfare at all, and more of this dark and underground punk palette, and simply just experience. That is the best way to listen to this album in my opinion, just alone, with nothing around you, and just experiencing the music at hand. I say, from my experience, it works like a charm.

I don't have much more to say other than to just listen to this album. Even if you may not like it, I still say it is an essential listen in both prog, and music in general. This album is one I doubt I will ever stop liking. It is just THAT good.

Now, ten years after their last album?2012's Noctourniquet?they've reunited to put out their seventh full-length release. The core of the band remains the same; Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is still on guitar, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala is still the vocalist. Beyond that, though, there has been churn in the lineup. Bassist Eva Gardner has returned to the band after last appearing on their 2002 Tremulant EP. Omar's younger brother Marcel?formerly the band's percussionist through 2010?covers keyboard duties. (Longtime TMV keyboardist Ikey Owens passed away in 2014, though he did not appear on Noctourniquet.)

In reading about this album's background, I found that Omar (always the lead (and usually sole) songwriter) consciously made an effort to move away from prog. This strikes me as a perplexing move. Just because Omar and Cedric are recording together, that does not make it The Mars Volta. Prior to forming TMV, they were both in the post-hardcore band At the Drive-In; and the two had collaborated in the one-off band Antemasque in 2014. If they wanted to make a non-prog album, reviving this band's name doesn't strike me as a smart move. They've got enough clout in the modern music world that they could have announced a new project and built hype off their reputations.

Cedric even cites the example of the band The Jam in describing the writing process. The Jam shifted sound, but they rebranded as The Style Council. So the decision to keep the Mars Volta moniker comes off almost as a money grab. 

That's not to say bands can't pivot genres. Ulver is my go-to example for successful 180 degree turns. They went from playing raw black metal to electronica, and both are very good. Thing is, it's hard enough to do one genre well. Getting two (radically different) genres under your belt is a tall, tall task. 

A better comparison for what they attempted may be Porcupine Tree. They underwent big shifts in sound twice in their career. First, in the late '90s, the band pivoted from improv-heavy space rock toward more-focused pieces, resulting in some of their most acclaimed work. And then a few years later, they turned toward metal. 

As a further handicap, the quality of TMV's output had been on a downward trend ever since Amputechture. That album and Bedlam in Goliath are both good, though with some bloat and extraneous moments. Octahedron has more flaws, but about half the album is still pretty good; and Noctourniquet was my least-favorite release from this band. Even that had a few good songs, though.

Omar and Cedric claimed that self-titling this album was to give them a "clean slate," but I can't exactly agree with that thinking. If anything, it only emphasizes and increases the weight of their past work. Late-career self-titled albums are only rarely good, and they're often quite bad. Just look at Van Halen III or Dream Theater.

The Mars Volta opens with its lead single, "Blacklight Shine". Latin percussion and jazzy keys are enjoyable enough, but the slightly-robotic quality to Cedric's voice is nothing short of grating. About midway through, there's a shift in the main riff I like, and we almost get an echo of some of Omar's past guitar madness. This was the best and most Mars Volta-y of the singles, but even then, it sounds like something that was cut from Noctourniquet for not being good enough. 

"Graveyard Love" comes next and starts with an electronic pulse. Cedric's voice has that same processed feel to it, which I do not like. There's an attempt to increase the intensity by having the percussion drive a bit faster, but in the end, this is simply a middling, unimpressive track. It's so spare it feels unfinished. The closing synth solo isn't bad, but Cedric's warbling over the top ruins it. The ending is distractingly abrupt, and this is a recurring issue on this album. It's like they came up with an idea but didn't quite know how to wrap it up, so they just stopped.

Things slow down on "Shore Story". This is torpid, uneventful molasses. Omar is barely present, and this sounds like a weak echo of TMV's quieter pieces on their last two albums. I never thought I'd describe this band as generic, but nothing about this song beyond Cedric's voice is distinctive in any way. 

"Blank Condolences" begins similarly. It has a little more spine, the melody in the chorus is okay, and this is the first place the guitarwork has truly sounded like Omar. Despite the unimpressive opening, this winds up being one of the better songs here.

The weakest of the pre-release singles, "Vigil", is next. It's more bland, mid-tempo nothingness. Ignoring Cedric's lyrics (which are way too scrutable for a Mars Volta release; I expect TMV lyrics to be like a thesaurus vomiting), the music reminds me of something that would play at a high school graduation.

Latin flavors return in the opening percussion of "Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón". At under two minutes, it's mercifully short, and this is the first song that actually sounds like The Mars Volta. It's tense, energetic, and features some very Omar-sounding guitar. It's not a good sign when the best song on the album is half the length of everything else.

"Cerulea" is an unimpressive, sleepy piece that makes zero impression. "Flash Burns from Flashbacks" is also un-memorable mush, albeit with moderately more distinctive guitar playing. I like some of the keyboard tones on "Palm Full of Crux", but that's the only thing about this ballad that I like.

"No Case Gain" has a vocal melody and delivery which reminds me of Toni Basil's "Mickey" at points. The chorus is competent, but it evokes bland, mid-2000s butt rock. At least this unfocused, unfinished-sounding hodgepodge is short.

The acoustic guitar on "Tourmaline" is creepy, but Cedric's voice should not be front-and-center with the effect they've got on it. This song calls to mind some of the band's better slow songs, like "Televators" or "The Widow", but it's just a pale shadow. Despite being less than four minutes, this song feels much longer, and its ending is irritating.

"Equus 3" shows some promise in its opening moments with sinister electronic growls, and Cedric's voice is better than elsewhere. Unfortunately, it can't deliver on that promise. Cedric's performance degrades as the song progresses, and this four-minute cut vastly overstays its welcome. The ideas?while better than elsewhere on The Mars Volta?sound underdeveloped.

"Collapsible Shoulders" might be the worst song this band has ever recorded. Cedric's voice grates incessantly and is mixed far too loud, and the music isn't much better. 

The Mars Volta ends with "The Requisition". This is a relative high point. Cedric's voice is bad only part of the time, and the music shows some creativity. Electronic touches are incorporated into the rock backing well, and there's some tension for once. This song actually has a climax, though there's not a resolution. It's a jarring end, but thankfully, it's an end.

Calling this a Mars Volta record is just begging for misaligned expectations. Sure, the band's previous two albums had been moving in a less-bombastic, more-focused direction, but they were still prog albums. Flawed albums, granted (very flawed in the case of Noctourniquet), but prog nonetheless. I don't expect TMV to reach the genre-defining heights of their first two albums, but I do expect something better than this. 

I really don't know who the target market for this is. Reviving the "The Mars Volta" name is going to disappoint longtime fans like myself, while potentially scaring off more mainstream audiences. But the name isn't the big issue here. The big issue is that the music isn't very good. This album seems half-baked. None of the songs end well, Cedric's voice is put through an awful filter, and this project just sounds overall passionless.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2022/09/26/album-review-the-mars-volta-the-mars-volta/

I think the best way to describe this album is if you took the very avant prog qualities of Frances The Mute and the more Latino rock qualities the band has shown since their debut EP, mash them together, add a tiny bit of third incarnation King Crimson sensibilities, and spice it up with moments that feel truly epic. This album is a mix grab bag of frantic jams that are very poignant in psychedelia, to more tranquil ambient moments, to stuff that feels almost right out of Omar's and Cedric's old band of At The Drive-In with more post-hardcore qualities. I think this is some really excellent combination of songs and sounds on here, with each song really diving deep into the progressive rock territories. In fact the first two songs of Vicarious Atonement and Tetragrammaton perfectly encapsulates the qualities this album exudes for me. Vicarious Atonement is this very misty, guitar-driven ambience track that leans itself as this very interesting beginning, not starting with this big and bombastic opener like the last two albums did, but instead leveling out to act as a calm to the storm that is Tetragrammaton, which I think works out nicely. Speaking of which, Tetragrammaton is very close to being my all time favorite Mars Volta track. This 16 minute epic winds through movements that are both odd, cryptic, ominous, but also filled with a certain energy that cannot be described. It truly is one of the best prog rock epics in my mind, and the fact the band hasn't made anything else like this shows that they are truly varied in their visions.

The strongest element for me is Omar's guitar. I think his guitar work on the last two Mars Volta albums were fantastic, with Frances being his peak of sorts in my opinion, but Amputechture does show how brilliant he can work the guitar in odd ways that rival Frank Zappa and Robert Fripp. His virtuosity here is unmatched, and the fact he seems to make these technical, almost math rock bendings and tones sound so effortless is a testament to his skills. I think, though, Jon Theodore comes very close to matching the same eccentricities Omar creates with his drummings. Both are very amazing musicians who should definitely be respected in both prog rock, and general music history.

I have said that this album was a big grower for me, and I think that, sadly, has to do with the fact that not every song on here is a homestar runner. If you much prefer the more frantic and intense songs Mars Volta creates, or you just find more ambient music quite boring like how I thought back then, you might not quite enjoy this album. Some songs on here have moments that are very tranquil and ambient, with even some songs just being purely that, like Vicarious Atonement or El Ciervo Vulnerado. These moments, admittedly, are still not my favorite, though I have really warmed up to them. I guess you have to hop into it not expecting a Deloused or Bedlam, but more of a Frances, being a lot more experimental and droning in places.

This album is one that I now really love. It has a ton of awesome moments of prog rock and Latino rock elements that are as high quality as you might expect from a band like The Mars Volta. It might have some moments that are quite underwhelming, but the low points on this album do not outweigh the amount of high points that are featured here. It is an excellent treat of progressive rock music that I think anyone should look into if they are willing to partake in the challenge.

Due to creative differences Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-López split ways after collaborating on the one-off Antemasque which revived the post-hardcore style of At The Drive-In which itself would find a second coming. After making a secret truce, the talk of reviving THE MARS VOLTA seemed inevitable as neither was setting the world on fire with solo and other projects. In 2019 the duo began working on what would become this self-titled album which signals a complete reinventing of the band by dropping all progressive rock influences and adopting a more indie pop approach. The album finally hit the scene in September 2022 with a less than thrilled fanbase waiting for the next "Frances The Mute" expressing its dissatisfaction.

Basically a completely different band from anything released before, this version of THE MARS VOLTA also features Marcellus Rodriguez-López, little brother of Omar, on keyboards, Eva Gardner, one of the founding members of the band back on bass, Willy Rodriguez Quiñones on drums and Leo Genovese, a famous Argentine jazz pianist, also joining in on keyboards. Notable for their albums' long playing times, this eponymous release keeps things on the shorter side just missing the 45 minute mark. Only two tracks are barely longer than four minutes and the overall stylistic shift is to emphasize instantly catchy melodic hooks accented by Caribbean rhythms and percussive styles along with indie rock guitars, bass and modern production techniques.

Honestly this was not something i was hoping for! Although a few albums after "Frances The Mute" are interesting, nothing comes close to the quality of the first two albums and in many ways this is an even loftier deep dive off the cliff of what made this band stand out from its nascency. Inherently there is nothing overtly awful about this album. The short digestible tracks are decently presented with Bixler-Zavala sounding less goofy in comparison. The mixing and production are excellent and fully up to date however what's mixing from this one is any connection to the soul. Unfortunately the band seems like it's striving to find commercial success in the context of achieving catchy pop hits on Spotify or something. All those wild unpredictable excursions into King Crimson prog and over the top psychedelic mindful.c.kery seem like a distant past although it's only been two decades since the band's debut.

When it comes down to it this just sounds like a completely different band with only Bixler-Zavala's vocal even remotely bringing any past efforts to mind. This is a fairly inoffensive, even bland set of 14 tracks that never really go anywhere or do anything beyond supporting the lyrical delivery that spends a great deal of time addressing the inconsistencies of the Church of Scientology which Bixler-Zavala's family had apparently tortured him with. For some sort of anonymous indie pop album, this is pretty decent for a listening experience but the whole thing seems like a mere shadow of the greatness this band once achieved. It's like Genesis' self-titled album in comparison to its prog heyday only without the super pop hits. Any way you slice it, a nice warm album but rather forgettable with nothing really to sink your teeth into.

This is probably the band's most abrasive records yet, with a lot more emphasis on the brutality the band can put out, unlike their previous record of Amputechture, which took a more avant-garde approach that originated from the more ambient parts of Frances The Mute and Deloused In The Comatorium. Whereas that record, I say, is the spiritual successor to Frances, Bedlam feels like the spiritual successor to Deloused, but with a more progressive push.

What I really love about this record is just how much the band likes to hook you in, and never let go. Immediately, the album pushes you off the cliff with Aberinkula, and while your falling throws more rocks and stones in the form of tracks like Goliath and Ourobouros at you, and honestly, as a whole package, this album really savors the fact that it never pulls any of its punches, and only really give you a break once within the beginning minute of Ilyena and the entirety of Tourniquet Man. It seems like they wanted to not only create a more brutal record, but also make one that was still highly enjoyable for people like me that crave some more frantic prog like The Cardiacs, or, in a more recent example, black midi.

I think the brutality works in the band's favor here, but I cannot deny the abrasive nature this album has is a bit much admittedly. What I think made the previous 3 records work was that they had moments for you to breathe. Deloused has a bit more calmer tracks, Frances has in-between moments in each track that broke up the loudness, Amputechture has a lot of softer moments that prepared you for the heaviness. The Bedlam In Goliath rarely has these moments, and the times it does are way too short. I love my brutal prog rock, don't get me wrong, I just think the album would be way better if it had a lot more moments that made me take a breather.

Even then, I think this album is probably some of the best playing the band has put out. Omar's frantic guitars mesh really well with Thomas Pridgen's drumming and Cedric's vocals that each track feels very special in the grand scheme of things. They really held their own on this record, even despite the grueling, and sometimes even spiritualistic recording sessions the band took just to make this album. This album definitely does showcase that this band can do a lot, even under the most 'tense of pressures.

While it is imperfect, this album is just one of those that never lets me go. The catchy, very frantic songs, and the entire atmosphere of this record soars with each listen, and I never allow myself to get bored. If you really like the more brutal prog sound the band exudes from their previous records, then you'll love this, I am sure of it. However, if you want something more calmer and collected, this may not suit your tastes.

The Mars Volta is a really big name in the progressive rock community, like really, really big. Honed in by two members of At The Drive-In, the harmonical falsetto emperor Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and the technical mad scientist who seems to never age a day Omar Rodríguez-López. These two legends have been in the experimental music business since even with their early works in At The Drive-In, especially with the highly influential, Relationship Of Command. Their work together paved the way for that alternative/punk brand of modern Prog that I love. Where bands such as The Flower Kings made the green road of retro progressive rock, Marillion made the neo-progressive rock ladder, and the acts of Porcupine Tree and many others shaped the more contemporary side of progressive rock, this band right here made a style that I can only deem as progressive punk. They and Coheed and Cambria made progressive rock a lot more mainstream by their combination of alternative rock, punk, and post-hardcore to bridge the gap in a way between the very symphonically heads of progressive rock, and the more rebellious heads of more punk rock kids. So far they have released 7 albums, not counting the 2021 Deloused demos album and all of which are consistently great. Not a single album from this band dissatisfied me or left me in the dark. All of them, from Deloused In The Comatorium to Nocturniquet has been as solid as a platypus stuck in a well. However, after Nocturniquet they disappeared, well not quite. They worked ok other projects, like Omar's solo work, and even At The Drive-In again for the album In ? ter a ? li ? a. They were still up to date with the prog sphere, but for then The Mars Volta was in a state of uncertain retirement.

However, now they came back, after pretty much ten years, however, it was without reason though. So in 2012 or 2013, Cedric joined the Church of Scientology, which resulted in Omar and him growing a bit apart. However, the church was very bad, especially towards Cedric's wife, Chrissie. I will not get into the big details, but to put it short this album was a result of Cedric's moving away from the church due to their very harmful, and very illegal activities, especially with the actor Danny Masterson. As a result, the songwriting became a lot less abstracted into a dungeon and more straightforward and personal. There was also Omar, who had a hand in the making of this album. He decided to make this one of their most revolutionary albums yet, and to make it revolutionary they wanted to step away from the progressive rock sounds they had on their previous records, and while not necessarily abandoning all that they were, they did bring out a new, blank canvas. This new direction resulted in their most pop-centric albums to date, not because they were selling out, but rather experimenting with a brand new sound. They are still experimental, but where on other records they were experimental in the vein of big long songs, they instead hunkered down a bit and experimented with a genre they had barely done before. To be honest, I gotta say, I like this new direction the band puts forth.

This new direction is exemplified with the first track, Blacklight Shine, where instead of this big proggy sound, we have a bomba sound in place with very rhythmic and soft hand drums, with a clear-cut focus on creating a new type of lively atmosphere. The Mars Volta has and always will be a band that embraces their Spanish roots, so this track does give us that very culturally fun music that I think was slightly missing from the band's older works. Oh man, this song is just a fun time, how this song makes me sway my hips, especially at the part where Cedric sings in Spanish. It is honestly a great opener for this album, and even after 10 years, and the genre shift, they sound like The Mars Volta. Progressive rock or not, you cannot deny this song is just a bundle of fun.

Like I said before they are still experimental, even in a pop context with a genre shift from bomba to a more electronic, almost trip-hop sound with Graveyard Love. It is very keyboard driven, with lush sounds creating a more enriched and bountiful feeling. It is also pretty rhythmic, heck I'd say the entire album is rhythmic in a sense. They put a lot of emphasis on the drums here, experimenting with all types of new sounds to create one of the most unique Mars Volta experiences to this day. I gotta say, it does work in their favor.

This is even more obvious with the song Shore Story, which continues that lush sound Graveyard Love proposed and times it by 2. Super atmospheric, and almost Coldplay-like, but obviously with a Spanish American, and much better frankly tone. You can tell they knew what they wanted to make, and with this song, I just wanna groove with them. No matter what The Mars Volta delivers. This also applies to Blank Condolences, but note I will be skipping some tracks, not because they are bad or anything no track here is bad by any stretch of the imagination, but because some tracks sound very similar to one another, and also because reviewing 14 songs it would make this review way too long and repetitive.

Now that I got that out of the way, we step into a more dream pop landscape with Vigil. I noticed a lot of people do not really like this song, and I just do not see why they would hate this, because this is a very pretty song. This is where I think Cedric's vocals peak on this album. His voice ages like the finest wine in the world, and here he is so soft but so filled with passion that I feel so rejuvenated. His dormouse-like falsettos just bleed into me and make me feel good. That is the whole point of pop music right, to make someone feel good? Unlike the very lame single cellular pop music that acts like Ed Sheeran or Drake gives, we get to pop that doesn't get in the way of the band's greatness and instead solidifies their greatness even more.

However Vigil is not the best song off the album, that title goes to Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazon. I am learning Spanish, and so a bit of the cultural impact that language has on the world so this song felt very right in the mood that I get with Spanish culture. This very fun-filled, salsa music with the fun drums, pianos, and Omar's guitar just makes me want to have a good time. It is danceable but in the best way possible. Like Blacklight Shine, my hips seem to move when this song plays, and it all feels so right.

Skipping a bit ahead to Flash Burns From Flashbacks, we sort of getting a mix between the old Mars Volta and this new canvas the band brought out. While it is still poppy, I do feel that Mars Volta's sound from Deloused or Amputechture slowly creeps in through those equivocal guitar tones. This got me thinking of how far the band has come from their first EP to this album. It is almost magical how well they stood the test of time and came back stronger than ever.

We get more of those cultural Spanish sounds with Palm Full Of Crux, with horns that remind me of hearing some Spanish jazz a little while back when I was exploring music more. This song does make me nostalgic in that factor, and it does explore this pop territory the band has going on here. It does make this album have a lot of solid ground to it. However, after this point, the album does dip a tad. Not to the point where it becomes unenjoyable, but with an album with a very big track length and with songs being 2-4 minutes long, you will eventually get some songs that lose the magic a bit. It is a thing that every genre experiences, from jazz, to no wave, to progressive rock. Every genre can experience this, so I do not fault the band for this.

I think after Palm Full Of Crux, right now the next strongest song in this lineup has become Equus 3. The use of electronic sounds and newer keyboards leave this song with a good feeling of very sonically enriched directions. You can feel the weight each beat has, and each press on the keys. Furthermore, the use of these electronic musical instruments gives this a different feeling from the rest of the songs. This band knows how to make distinct songs, and this is a good example of that.

I think the album closes very nicely with The Requisition. It is not my favorite song by any means but it does end the album on a high note. We get that mix of the old and new again, especially with Omar's still very well-done guitar playing skills having this very crisp sound, playing in some minor chords, which I adore. I can tell after hearing this album a few times throughout the day that we are still in good hands, and no matter what I feel like they can work things out with this new pop direction. I am a progressive rock fan first and foremost, but I know good music when I hear it, and this right here is some excellent music.

Some may consider this the band's worst effort, but I will say this. Even The Mars Volta's worst could be another band's best. Their sound, and styles, no matter if they are in the Prog boat or not still, will always be high quality. It is like eating a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. No matter the cheese (Unless it's pepper jack then it can go die.) or what brand of ham you get, it'll still taste really good. The Mars Volta is one of my favorite bands, and I am as excited as everyone else to see this duo come back after a hot minute. They do show that quality will always be over quantity, no matter how long, short, Prog, or pop their songs are.

I actually quite dig At The Drive In, so when I heard that two of the founding members of that band had a prog rock band and that they had made a concept album, I was quite intrigued! I mean, what could go wrong? Well, curiosity killed the cat here folks. Let's begin with what I actually somewhat liked

"The Widow" is the only song here that isn't downright awful until the secound half of the song. It's still not good, because Cedric throws on this horribly awful "seductive" voice style which is really not my thing.

A very minor and a completly subjective issue, but this album dosen't really have any symphonic/classical elements to it at all which kind of bugged me because prog without that important factor can go horribly wrong. And oh dear... it truly truly did here folks! Well it's time to go into why I consider this to be the worst prog album I've ever listened to.

This band plays without any cohesion or strucutre to their music, except for "L'Via L'Viaquez", which has some order to it, the rest of this album is just a manic and insanely chaotic cluster[%*!#]. "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" and "Cassandra Geminni" are the worst offenders here. The last track is quite frankly, the musical equivalent to a torture session. It's long and brutally painful to listen to, where nothing flows togehter well. Metaphorically speaking, this song feels like an alarm bell going off every 30 secounds. I mean it's just extremly stressful to listen to and actually gives me anxeity, and not in a metal way where the song hits me with adrenaline and it fills me with excitment and a feeling of triumph.

Sonically, this album is latin rock mixed in with jazz fushion. If this was more of a instrumental project, it would be way more tolerable. And now that leads me to the worst part of this album and that is the vocals...

And then we have the vocals, I don't know what in the actual [%*!#] happened to Cedric. But he dosen't sing like how he did in At The Drive In. Instead, here Cedric sounds like a slowly dying cat who is getting impaled by a icicle, he is doing this whispering I don't know if he is trying to sound seductive or what, but it sounds awful and makes me feel quite nauesous.

But overall this album is It's way too chaotic and lacks any semblence of a musical structure to it, it just comes out as a complete and utter chaotic and uncohesive mess.

A truly ablysmal display of poorly constructed, head-ache inducing and truly horrendous prog-rock. I truly think this is the worst prog-rock album I've ever had the utmost displeasure of listening to.

Favourite Tracks: The Widow.

Least Favourite Tracks: Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore, Cassandra Geminni.

1/10.

Of course replete with perverted and near-classic (see "L'Via L'Viaquez") Latin passages and influence, this album is an unrelenting barrage, through loud and quiet moments alike. And of course, this very unique mix of all of the above is what makes The Mars Volta them. Give 'em hell, lay it back down, ramp it up to 11. That's Mars Volta, for sure. In addition to the obvious Latin flavors, we get electronic and dub passages. All nicely fitted into this package, Frances the Mute.

And also, fans of the modern Prog genre should recognize the second track, "The Widow". It's got the hook, for sure. Great song, really. A modern classic, easily. A sort of LED ZEPPELIN Blues Rock thing, with all its modernist complexities (rolling bass, flailing organ, horns, etc.). A similar effect occurs on "L'Via L'Viaquez" (this track is far more masterful than you may realize upon first glance); it's intense and yet very tactful. What can I say? They were a great band.

I would just like to mention that "Miranda... [long title]" is the clear standout... lowlight on the album. It's low and slow. It's not not Mars Volta, or anything like that haha. It's just not that good. A breather on a heavy, dense album such as this one is probably necessary, but certainly not at 13 minutes' length...

The opening monologue on the first part of "Cassandra Gemini" struck me as a cross between Frank ZAPPA and Tom WAITS. Great effect. The big question with this song was "How necessary was it for them to digitally break this up into 8 parts?" Given its clear weaknesses, in my opinion ("Tarantism", "Plant A Nail...", "Pisacis"), really, quite necessary. Does it make for a weak epic? To me: yep. Again, surprised to see it, but "Plant a Nail..." is a Zeppelin interpolation, no? I wouldn't be able to place it specifically though...

True Rate: 3.5/5.0