The Mars Volta: Octahedron

Posted by aroibal

THE SKINNY: The Mars Volta recently put out a new album that delivers the same intensity and complexity that fans are used to while still creating something that is not a photocopy of previous works.

WEBSITE: themarsvolta.com
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PURCHASE: Amazon MP3, iTunes

The Mars Volta, a band that is known for its intensely driven progressive music and wild live performances, recently released its fifth studio album. Octahedron hit the stores on June 23 and, like the band's past few albums, has received mixed reviews. Personally, I think it's time for fans of De-Loused to open up their ears and fully take in The Mars Volta for all they have to offer. I'm not saying that De-Loused isn't a great album, because it most certainly is. Some fans are just expecting the same old thing over and over again and I just don't see the fun in that.

Cedric and Omar really deliver on this new album. Each track has certain elements that are signature of The Mars Volta: some intense songs, some mellow songs, complex arrangements, soaring high-pitched vocals, and a vast amount of instrumentation.

As fans of The Mars Volta know, not every album has the same group of musicians playing on it. Octahedron did not follow that usual course of action. Many of the key players in The Mars Volta Group that played on The Bedlam in Goliath are back for this album as well. There is a handful of other musicians on Octahedron, but all the heavy hitters are still in place: Thomas Pridgen on drums, Juan Alderete on bass, Isaiah Ikey Owens on keyboards, and John Frusciante on guitar.

The album starts off with the slow-building track "Since We've Been Wrong" which is reminiscent of "Televators" on De-Loused. The next few songs go over a few highs and lows until the album reaches "Cotopaxi" and takes off into the intense craziness that most listeners are usually expecting. From there, "Desperate Graves" takes over with a gentle guitar solo at the beginning. The song then takes off into what is probably the most solid track on the album. The next two songs close out the album by taking it back down and then blasting you with the outro of "Luciforms", which concludes with a bit of their signature "noise" that The Mars Volta is known for.

"Desperate Graves" off of Octahedron:

FAVORITE TRACK: "Desperate Graves"
FOR FANS OF: Previous Mars Volta Albums, The Sound of Animals Fighting, Tool