MEGARITUAL

Megaritual can be ruthless in its cacophony (more so at times than anything The Mars Volta has done), but also contains some very refined segments. Track markers seem to have been placed at haphazard intervals, so don't expect too many clean breaks. I can't say I thought anything was exceedingly good, but I can say that this is an album for those eager to hear the mastermind behind The Mars Volta team up with his brother Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez and tackle some Latin-infused heavy psychedelic music- no guarantees though.

"A Device Imagined to Turn" It wouldn't be an Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album if it didn't begin with extraterrestrial electronic noises and disharmonious guitar playing. The track is over halfway through before anything coherent happens, and even then is on the avant-garde psychedelic side of things.

"Screaming Babies Inside Out" This is a noisy continuation of the first track, swamped with fuzz and heavy phase-shifter effects. The last bit has a pleasing Latin groove immersed with electronic sounds that unfortunately doesn't stay long.

"At the Push of a Button" The Latin groove returns along with some thankfully tasteful guitar playing.

"Bells at the Slipstream" I like the light drumming here, and the multiple guitars weave an interesting, if loud, fabric, while the younger brother's electronic sounds bore holes through it.

"Good Is Repaid With Evil" This piece has some pleasant piano, and sounds a bit like Porcupine Tree infused with busy electronic factors.

"Panta Section" A heavy fusion piece with several lively guitars, a funky bass groove, and excellent percussion, this one intersperses jamming over an easy-to-follow rhythm with cacophonic and hard-to-digest passages.

"Hands Vs. Helix" This is about as ludicrous as it gets, with those warbling guitar tones over giddy noises and a Willy Wonka-like rhythm. Veruca Salt is not impressed, and neither am I, although this piece is admittedly fun.

"Dispanec Triage" That melancholic piano returns, this time accompanied by effects and a guitar sound that actually add to the feel rather than distract from it. Overall, the longest track is one of true post-rock and sheer beauty.

"Dead Hisses to Match Our Own" This has some of the best guitar work on the album, and ultimately salvages it for me- the arrangement is killer. While this album dawdled throughout most of its time, it finished in a stellar way. It would have been better if someone had not messed with the time-stretching effects, which almost ruin it.

Megaritual is a pretty interesting album for the way it seems to embody both some of Omar's most subdued and erratic sensibilities in the one place, being this bizarre, spacey jam session grounded by groovy Latin rhythms and sections dedicated to his signature frenetic playing style. Despite this, there's not really too much that separates Megaritual as a particularly essential or unique ORL album due to the fact that its identity feels as if it hinges on elements of his previous works without trying to bring a new or even refined take on any of it, with even the way it blends the 2 extremes of his material feeling a bit slapdash. This isn't a bad album by any means, it's got some neat textural stuff going on with its tamer moments and tracks like Screaming Babies Inside Out really represent the way that even some of the less essential Omar albums have a few songs with some killer rhythmic elements to them. Overall the sort of album that feels only really worth listening to if you're already a big fan of Omar Rodriguez Lopez, it's good but really, there are just better albums of his that you could be listening to instead.

Best tracks: Screaming Babies Inside Out, Dead Hisses to Match Our Own