AMPUTECHTURE

I know that many Mars Volta fans were disappointed with this album. While I do not think it is as great as Frances the Mute or De-loused, which I believe to be some of the best music I've ever heard, I still enjoy listening to this album. Vicarious Atonement is really trippy. The climax where Cedric says In the river Ganges God damns my name floors me every single time. Tetragrammaton is an interesting, though inconsistent track. I don't like the beginning too much, but I love the progression when Cedric starts to sing. I don't remember listening to Vermicide or Meccamputechture more than twice, but Asilos Magdalena is the eeriest acoustic song I've ever head. Next comes Viscera Eyes, which, except for one atonal figure that repeats a couple times too many, is an exceptional track. The guitar solo, in particular, is amazing. Day of the Baphomets follows next, and, being a bassist myself, I was so happy to hear such a killer bass solo to start things off. This song is probably my favorite of the entire CD. The closing song is nice, but never seems to go anywhere and ends abruptly, which always confuses me when I listen to it. Overall, I think this album gets dogged too much, but I do think that it left something to be desired, even if filling the shoes left by Deloused and Frances is a pretty impossible task in my opinion.