NOCTOURNIQUET

Noctourniquet is the sixth and (probably) final album by the Mars Volta, a band of volcanic energy, instrumental virtuosity, electric creativity... and a steady downward slide in quality that ends with this messy, electronic, unapproachable, conflicted, abstract, and ultimately awful album. I was excited about this album at the time of it's release, because I love the band's early works and was hoping for a comeback... a wanted to love this album.

I hate this album.

It's one of the few records in my collection that, when I begin listening, I genuinely want it to stop almost immediately. Maybe this is nostalgia or sentimentality for the amazing De-Loused, Frances, or Amputechture, or maybe it's the weird staggered rhythms, non-existent melodies, flat and bland dynamics, highly electronic - almost computerized sound, meandering drumming and guitar work, and joylessness that practically assaults the senses with each song.

That's really it, joylessness, I think. This album simply isn't any fun for anyone involved, musicians included. There clearly isn't excitement from a songwriting or performance standpoint, because each of these songs drifts by as unmemorably and unexcitingly as the one that preceded it. Noctourniquet is more than an hour of sounds that aren't quite songs, aren't quite ambiance, aren't quite experimental. It's like a collection of Trent Reznor demos over which Bixler-Zavala recites abstract poetry to. Discussions and interviews talk about the more concise, song-oriented nature of this album, which I totally disagree with. The entire album feels like one agonizingly long song that doesn't know what to do with itself, and the musicians phone this one in and let the album's producer pick up the pieces. There is nothing to grab hold of or remember here.

It's different than they're other releases I'll give it that, but Noctourniquet fails on all fronts. It's a tragic close to an amazing legacy that is definitely for completionists only. People who don't like Mars Volta will probably hate this album, maybe even more than people who love the band. I'm glad that, now having reviewed this album, I'll never have to listen to it again. No, I'm not exaggerating. I love this band... but I hate this album.

Songwriting: 1 - Instrumental Performances: 2 - Lyrics/Vocals: 1 - Style/Emotion/Replay: 1