THE MARS VOLTA

'Tis a good day, the sun is shining, the birds are whispering, and everything is alright. I think it is prime time for another very popular band to come back and make the day even better, I mean Porcupine Tree did it with Closure / Continuation, why not another one? Maybe another band with a heavy sound and a very experimental attitude to their music?maybe a band that tries new things every time they release something. Maybe?maybe we need a little bit of The Mars Volta in our lives right now.

The Mars Volta is a really big name in the progressive rock community, like really, really big. Honed in by two members of At The Drive-In, the harmonical falsetto emperor Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and the technical mad scientist who seems to never age a day Omar Rodríguez-López. These two legends have been in the experimental music business since even with their early works in At The Drive-In, especially with the highly influential, Relationship Of Command. Their work together paved the way for that alternative/punk brand of modern Prog that I love. Where bands such as The Flower Kings made the green road of retro progressive rock, Marillion made the neo-progressive rock ladder, and the acts of Porcupine Tree and many others shaped the more contemporary side of progressive rock, this band right here made a style that I can only deem as progressive punk. They and Coheed and Cambria made progressive rock a lot more mainstream by their combination of alternative rock, punk, and post-hardcore to bridge the gap in a way between the very symphonically heads of progressive rock, and the more rebellious heads of more punk rock kids. So far they have released 7 albums, not counting the 2021 Deloused demos album and all of which are consistently great. Not a single album from this band dissatisfied me or left me in the dark. All of them, from Deloused In The Comatorium to Nocturniquet has been as solid as a platypus stuck in a well. However, after Nocturniquet they disappeared, well not quite. They worked ok other projects, like Omar's solo work, and even At The Drive-In again for the album In ? ter a ? li ? a. They were still up to date with the prog sphere, but for then The Mars Volta was in a state of uncertain retirement.

However, now they came back, after pretty much ten years, however, it was without reason though. So in 2012 or 2013, Cedric joined the Church of Scientology, which resulted in Omar and him growing a bit apart. However, the church was very bad, especially towards Cedric's wife, Chrissie. I will not get into the big details, but to put it short this album was a result of Cedric's moving away from the church due to their very harmful, and very illegal activities, especially with the actor Danny Masterson. As a result, the songwriting became a lot less abstracted into a dungeon and more straightforward and personal. There was also Omar, who had a hand in the making of this album. He decided to make this one of their most revolutionary albums yet, and to make it revolutionary they wanted to step away from the progressive rock sounds they had on their previous records, and while not necessarily abandoning all that they were, they did bring out a new, blank canvas. This new direction resulted in their most pop-centric albums to date, not because they were selling out, but rather experimenting with a brand new sound. They are still experimental, but where on other records they were experimental in the vein of big long songs, they instead hunkered down a bit and experimented with a genre they had barely done before. To be honest, I gotta say, I like this new direction the band puts forth.

This new direction is exemplified with the first track, Blacklight Shine, where instead of this big proggy sound, we have a bomba sound in place with very rhythmic and soft hand drums, with a clear-cut focus on creating a new type of lively atmosphere. The Mars Volta has and always will be a band that embraces their Spanish roots, so this track does give us that very culturally fun music that I think was slightly missing from the band's older works. Oh man, this song is just a fun time, how this song makes me sway my hips, especially at the part where Cedric sings in Spanish. It is honestly a great opener for this album, and even after 10 years, and the genre shift, they sound like The Mars Volta. Progressive rock or not, you cannot deny this song is just a bundle of fun.

Like I said before they are still experimental, even in a pop context with a genre shift from bomba to a more electronic, almost trip-hop sound with Graveyard Love. It is very keyboard driven, with lush sounds creating a more enriched and bountiful feeling. It is also pretty rhythmic, heck I'd say the entire album is rhythmic in a sense. They put a lot of emphasis on the drums here, experimenting with all types of new sounds to create one of the most unique Mars Volta experiences to this day. I gotta say, it does work in their favor.

This is even more obvious with the song Shore Story, which continues that lush sound Graveyard Love proposed and times it by 2. Super atmospheric, and almost Coldplay-like, but obviously with a Spanish American, and much better frankly tone. You can tell they knew what they wanted to make, and with this song, I just wanna groove with them. No matter what The Mars Volta delivers. This also applies to Blank Condolences, but note I will be skipping some tracks, not because they are bad or anything no track here is bad by any stretch of the imagination, but because some tracks sound very similar to one another, and also because reviewing 14 songs it would make this review way too long and repetitive.

Now that I got that out of the way, we step into a more dream pop landscape with Vigil. I noticed a lot of people do not really like this song, and I just do not see why they would hate this, because this is a very pretty song. This is where I think Cedric's vocals peak on this album. His voice ages like the finest wine in the world, and here he is so soft but so filled with passion that I feel so rejuvenated. His dormouse-like falsettos just bleed into me and make me feel good. That is the whole point of pop music right, to make someone feel good? Unlike the very lame single cellular pop music that acts like Ed Sheeran or Drake gives, we get to pop that doesn't get in the way of the band's greatness and instead solidifies their greatness even more.

However Vigil is not the best song off the album, that title goes to Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazon. I am learning Spanish, and so a bit of the cultural impact that language has on the world so this song felt very right in the mood that I get with Spanish culture. This very fun-filled, salsa music with the fun drums, pianos, and Omar's guitar just makes me want to have a good time. It is danceable but in the best way possible. Like Blacklight Shine, my hips seem to move when this song plays, and it all feels so right.

Skipping a bit ahead to Flash Burns From Flashbacks, we sort of getting a mix between the old Mars Volta and this new canvas the band brought out. While it is still poppy, I do feel that Mars Volta's sound from Deloused or Amputechture slowly creeps in through those equivocal guitar tones. This got me thinking of how far the band has come from their first EP to this album. It is almost magical how well they stood the test of time and came back stronger than ever.

We get more of those cultural Spanish sounds with Palm Full Of Crux, with horns that remind me of hearing some Spanish jazz a little while back when I was exploring music more. This song does make me nostalgic in that factor, and it does explore this pop territory the band has going on here. It does make this album have a lot of solid ground to it. However, after this point, the album does dip a tad. Not to the point where it becomes unenjoyable, but with an album with a very big track length and with songs being 2-4 minutes long, you will eventually get some songs that lose the magic a bit. It is a thing that every genre experiences, from jazz, to no wave, to progressive rock. Every genre can experience this, so I do not fault the band for this.

I think after Palm Full Of Crux, right now the next strongest song in this lineup has become Equus 3. The use of electronic sounds and newer keyboards leave this song with a good feeling of very sonically enriched directions. You can feel the weight each beat has, and each press on the keys. Furthermore, the use of these electronic musical instruments gives this a different feeling from the rest of the songs. This band knows how to make distinct songs, and this is a good example of that.

I think the album closes very nicely with The Requisition. It is not my favorite song by any means but it does end the album on a high note. We get that mix of the old and new again, especially with Omar's still very well-done guitar playing skills having this very crisp sound, playing in some minor chords, which I adore. I can tell after hearing this album a few times throughout the day that we are still in good hands, and no matter what I feel like they can work things out with this new pop direction. I am a progressive rock fan first and foremost, but I know good music when I hear it, and this right here is some excellent music.

Some may consider this the band's worst effort, but I will say this. Even The Mars Volta's worst could be another band's best. Their sound, and styles, no matter if they are in the Prog boat or not still, will always be high quality. It is like eating a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. No matter the cheese (Unless it's pepper jack then it can go die.) or what brand of ham you get, it'll still taste really good. The Mars Volta is one of my favorite bands, and I am as excited as everyone else to see this duo come back after a hot minute. They do show that quality will always be over quantity, no matter how long, short, Prog, or pop their songs are.

Well this is surely one i never saw coming. THE MARS VOLTA is of course one of those millennial prog acts that pretty much introduced prog rock to a new generation with its brash musical mishmash on the band's lauded double one two punch debut releases "De-Loused In The Comatorium" and "Frances The Mute." These two albums took me quite a while to warm up to mostly due to Cedric Bixler-Zavala's abrasive vocal style but once i acclimated to the band's unique idiosyncrasies i have to admit that those two releases rank high in my favorite album releases of all time now. Along with Omar Rodriguez-López, Bixler-Zavala made an instant smash with their unique punk-infused style of progressive rock but after the second release it was pretty much diminishing returns with "Amputechture" all the way to 2021's too-abstract-for-its-own-good-and-lost-its way sound of "Noctourniquet."

Due to creative differences Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-López split ways after collaborating on the one-off Antemasque which revived the post-hardcore style of At The Drive-In which itself would find a second coming. After making a secret truce, the talk of reviving THE MARS VOLTA seemed inevitable as neither was setting the world on fire with solo and other projects. In 2019 the duo began working on what would become this self-titled album which signals a complete reinventing of the band by dropping all progressive rock influences and adopting a more indie pop approach. The album finally hit the scene in September 2022 with a less than thrilled fanbase waiting for the next "Frances The Mute" expressing its dissatisfaction.

Basically a completely different band from anything released before, this version of THE MARS VOLTA also features Marcellus Rodriguez-López, little brother of Omar, on keyboards, Eva Gardner, one of the founding members of the band back on bass, Willy Rodriguez Quiñones on drums and Leo Genovese, a famous Argentine jazz pianist, also joining in on keyboards. Notable for their albums' long playing times, this eponymous release keeps things on the shorter side just missing the 45 minute mark. Only two tracks are barely longer than four minutes and the overall stylistic shift is to emphasize instantly catchy melodic hooks accented by Caribbean rhythms and percussive styles along with indie rock guitars, bass and modern production techniques.

Honestly this was not something i was hoping for! Although a few albums after "Frances The Mute" are interesting, nothing comes close to the quality of the first two albums and in many ways this is an even loftier deep dive off the cliff of what made this band stand out from its nascency. Inherently there is nothing overtly awful about this album. The short digestible tracks are decently presented with Bixler-Zavala sounding less goofy in comparison. The mixing and production are excellent and fully up to date however what's mixing from this one is any connection to the soul. Unfortunately the band seems like it's striving to find commercial success in the context of achieving catchy pop hits on Spotify or something. All those wild unpredictable excursions into King Crimson prog and over the top psychedelic mindful.c.kery seem like a distant past although it's only been two decades since the band's debut.

When it comes down to it this just sounds like a completely different band with only Bixler-Zavala's vocal even remotely bringing any past efforts to mind. This is a fairly inoffensive, even bland set of 14 tracks that never really go anywhere or do anything beyond supporting the lyrical delivery that spends a great deal of time addressing the inconsistencies of the Church of Scientology which Bixler-Zavala's family had apparently tortured him with. For some sort of anonymous indie pop album, this is pretty decent for a listening experience but the whole thing seems like a mere shadow of the greatness this band once achieved. It's like Genesis' self-titled album in comparison to its prog heyday only without the super pop hits. Any way you slice it, a nice warm album but rather forgettable with nothing really to sink your teeth into.

The Mars Volta, along with acts like Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater, helped revive the world of progressive rock in the early 2000s. They were one of the most beloved and influential prog acts of the 21st century. Their 2003 full-length debut?De-Loused in the Comatorium?and its 2005 successor?Frances the Mute?are two of the best prog albums of all time, irrespective of era. In addition to past prog influences, they incorporated post-hardcore, jazz, and electronic elements. Their classic sound is striking and immediately recognizable.

Now, ten years after their last album?2012's Noctourniquet?they've reunited to put out their seventh full-length release. The core of the band remains the same; Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is still on guitar, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala is still the vocalist. Beyond that, though, there has been churn in the lineup. Bassist Eva Gardner has returned to the band after last appearing on their 2002 Tremulant EP. Omar's younger brother Marcel?formerly the band's percussionist through 2010?covers keyboard duties. (Longtime TMV keyboardist Ikey Owens passed away in 2014, though he did not appear on Noctourniquet.)

In reading about this album's background, I found that Omar (always the lead (and usually sole) songwriter) consciously made an effort to move away from prog. This strikes me as a perplexing move. Just because Omar and Cedric are recording together, that does not make it The Mars Volta. Prior to forming TMV, they were both in the post-hardcore band At the Drive-In; and the two had collaborated in the one-off band Antemasque in 2014. If they wanted to make a non-prog album, reviving this band's name doesn't strike me as a smart move. They've got enough clout in the modern music world that they could have announced a new project and built hype off their reputations.

Cedric even cites the example of the band The Jam in describing the writing process. The Jam shifted sound, but they rebranded as The Style Council. So the decision to keep the Mars Volta moniker comes off almost as a money grab. 

That's not to say bands can't pivot genres. Ulver is my go-to example for successful 180 degree turns. They went from playing raw black metal to electronica, and both are very good. Thing is, it's hard enough to do one genre well. Getting two (radically different) genres under your belt is a tall, tall task. 

A better comparison for what they attempted may be Porcupine Tree. They underwent big shifts in sound twice in their career. First, in the late '90s, the band pivoted from improv-heavy space rock toward more-focused pieces, resulting in some of their most acclaimed work. And then a few years later, they turned toward metal. 

As a further handicap, the quality of TMV's output had been on a downward trend ever since Amputechture. That album and Bedlam in Goliath are both good, though with some bloat and extraneous moments. Octahedron has more flaws, but about half the album is still pretty good; and Noctourniquet was my least-favorite release from this band. Even that had a few good songs, though.

Omar and Cedric claimed that self-titling this album was to give them a "clean slate," but I can't exactly agree with that thinking. If anything, it only emphasizes and increases the weight of their past work. Late-career self-titled albums are only rarely good, and they're often quite bad. Just look at Van Halen III or Dream Theater.

The Mars Volta opens with its lead single, "Blacklight Shine". Latin percussion and jazzy keys are enjoyable enough, but the slightly-robotic quality to Cedric's voice is nothing short of grating. About midway through, there's a shift in the main riff I like, and we almost get an echo of some of Omar's past guitar madness. This was the best and most Mars Volta-y of the singles, but even then, it sounds like something that was cut from Noctourniquet for not being good enough. 

"Graveyard Love" comes next and starts with an electronic pulse. Cedric's voice has that same processed feel to it, which I do not like. There's an attempt to increase the intensity by having the percussion drive a bit faster, but in the end, this is simply a middling, unimpressive track. It's so spare it feels unfinished. The closing synth solo isn't bad, but Cedric's warbling over the top ruins it. The ending is distractingly abrupt, and this is a recurring issue on this album. It's like they came up with an idea but didn't quite know how to wrap it up, so they just stopped.

Things slow down on "Shore Story". This is torpid, uneventful molasses. Omar is barely present, and this sounds like a weak echo of TMV's quieter pieces on their last two albums. I never thought I'd describe this band as generic, but nothing about this song beyond Cedric's voice is distinctive in any way. 

"Blank Condolences" begins similarly. It has a little more spine, the melody in the chorus is okay, and this is the first place the guitarwork has truly sounded like Omar. Despite the unimpressive opening, this winds up being one of the better songs here.

The weakest of the pre-release singles, "Vigil", is next. It's more bland, mid-tempo nothingness. Ignoring Cedric's lyrics (which are way too scrutable for a Mars Volta release; I expect TMV lyrics to be like a thesaurus vomiting), the music reminds me of something that would play at a high school graduation.

Latin flavors return in the opening percussion of "Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón". At under two minutes, it's mercifully short, and this is the first song that actually sounds like The Mars Volta. It's tense, energetic, and features some very Omar-sounding guitar. It's not a good sign when the best song on the album is half the length of everything else.

"Cerulea" is an unimpressive, sleepy piece that makes zero impression. "Flash Burns from Flashbacks" is also un-memorable mush, albeit with moderately more distinctive guitar playing. I like some of the keyboard tones on "Palm Full of Crux", but that's the only thing about this ballad that I like.

"No Case Gain" has a vocal melody and delivery which reminds me of Toni Basil's "Mickey" at points. The chorus is competent, but it evokes bland, mid-2000s butt rock. At least this unfocused, unfinished-sounding hodgepodge is short.

The acoustic guitar on "Tourmaline" is creepy, but Cedric's voice should not be front-and-center with the effect they've got on it. This song calls to mind some of the band's better slow songs, like "Televators" or "The Widow", but it's just a pale shadow. Despite being less than four minutes, this song feels much longer, and its ending is irritating.

"Equus 3" shows some promise in its opening moments with sinister electronic growls, and Cedric's voice is better than elsewhere. Unfortunately, it can't deliver on that promise. Cedric's performance degrades as the song progresses, and this four-minute cut vastly overstays its welcome. The ideas?while better than elsewhere on The Mars Volta?sound underdeveloped.

"Collapsible Shoulders" might be the worst song this band has ever recorded. Cedric's voice grates incessantly and is mixed far too loud, and the music isn't much better. 

The Mars Volta ends with "The Requisition". This is a relative high point. Cedric's voice is bad only part of the time, and the music shows some creativity. Electronic touches are incorporated into the rock backing well, and there's some tension for once. This song actually has a climax, though there's not a resolution. It's a jarring end, but thankfully, it's an end.

Calling this a Mars Volta record is just begging for misaligned expectations. Sure, the band's previous two albums had been moving in a less-bombastic, more-focused direction, but they were still prog albums. Flawed albums, granted (very flawed in the case of Noctourniquet), but prog nonetheless. I don't expect TMV to reach the genre-defining heights of their first two albums, but I do expect something better than this. 

I really don't know who the target market for this is. Reviving the "The Mars Volta" name is going to disappoint longtime fans like myself, while potentially scaring off more mainstream audiences. But the name isn't the big issue here. The big issue is that the music isn't very good. This album seems half-baked. None of the songs end well, Cedric's voice is put through an awful filter, and this project just sounds overall passionless.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2022/09/26/album-review-the-mars-volta-the-mars-volta/