The Mars Volta's new album is an assault on ears

By Joel Schafer

Published Feb. 5, 2008

When At the Drive-In went on “indefinite hiatus” in 2001, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez announced that they were interested in creating less mainstream music, more in the realm of Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This progressive rock project came to be The Mars Volta.

Many music fans and critics were astonished that ATD-I had split at such a seminal time in their career and quickly blamed the two of committing one of the most atrocious murders that punk music had ever witnessed.

Seven years later, it seems the King Crimson-loving half of ATD-I has accomplished more than they it could have before. Blending elements of bop, hardcore punk, hard rock, funk and a strong Latin presence, the band has always had an indefinable sound.

But on The Bedlam in Goliath, the band seems to want to take the idea of an auditory assault to a whole new level, meaning that now more than ever, The Mars Volta refuse to quit.

This fact is apparent from the moment the album begins out of step with the rest of the Volta catalog. “Aberinkula” opens with such a bang that it literally scares the listener.

What’s even scarier? The band doesn’t let up for the rest of the album. Rather than take the listener on a rollercoaster ride filled with lengthy atmospheric passages, the band channels a lot more funk and classic rock than any record before (the “Goliath” riff’s spiritual father is quite possibly “21st Century Schizoid Man”) and insists on not stopping.

Is this The Mars Volta turning mainstreamm? Not quite. Though the first single “Wax Simulacra” is only around two and a half minutes, it’s packed to the brim with pummeling rhythms, lightning quick riffs and even features a free jazz solo near the end.

Also check out Jon Theodore’s replacement drummer Thomas Pridgen’s intro on the track. (There is a theory that the Volta genetically engineer their own drummers to create beasts that have previously been unknown to this world.)

This album, however, isn’t quite the classic that “De-loused in the Comatorium” is for several reasons. The very trait that makes this album special-the unrelenting assault of virtuosic musicians going at nearly breakneck speed-doesn’t allow the breakdowns that created so much more emotion on past releases and only heighten the sense of urgency.

This constant drive also seems to hinder lead vocalist Bixler-Zavala from creating more memorable melodies. It seems that he tries to cover this semi-obvious flaw by dousing his vocal lines with bizarre effects, and lots of them at that.

Perhaps the most interesting moments come when the band does not sound like The Mars Volta. “Ilyena” has a different feel than any Volta song before it, creating a bleak yet sexy mood that showcases Bixler-Zavala’s abstract (and at times nonsensical) poetry. The track begins with nearly indiscernible vocals and shards of feedback, then slowly allows more audible lyrics to seep through.

This album should be looked at as a step back in line for The Volta. It succeeds in most of the areas that 2006’s “Amputechture” failed in (although the production can be just as questionable). Rather than fulfilling many Pitchfork writer’s wishes of spiraling into the blackened void known as guitar solo hell, Omar, Cedric and company have shown that they have many more concept albums to come, full of new ideas each time.