Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
The Mars Volta - Tremulant EP CD (album) cover

TREMULANT EP

The Mars Volta

 

Heavy Prog

3.31 | 132 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

ProgBagel
Prog Reviewer
3 stars The Mars Volta - 'Tremulant' 3 stars

3 stars for 3 good (to great) songs on one if the finest debut EP's.

This is an extremely good but short EP. This came about after the deconstruction of At the Drive-In and the pursuance of an experimental niche Omar and Cedric longed to search for. The strong starts that are apparent on all of the Mars Volta's albums are no exception even from the start of it all. Opening the disc with a lot of noise and atmosphere is 'Cut That City'. This song should be welcomed by the heartbroken At the Drive-In fans as it does bare some similarities, containing the punkish vibe but holding some funk rhythms to it. There is a few flaws in Cedrics voice on this track; he does not really sound in key and the effects included on the vocals have not been mastered. After all, this is still just an EP. 'Concertina' was my introduction to this band and still one of their better tracks in my opinion. Omar and Cedric's vocal/guitar synchronization really stands out and makes this song great. This is a more Floyd/Crimson oriented track in the verse, with Omar's simple dissonant and atmospheric leads drive the music. The final number, 'Eunuch Provocateur' was an interesting one but my least favorite. A trap that the band fell into with 'Frances the Mute', this song is 8 minutes with 4 minutes of 'music'. The 4 minutes are decent; more of the same from 'Cut that City'.

This can serve to be an excellent introduction to this band especially for a frightened At the Drive-In fan. Obviously, The Mars Volta has surpassed this release with all their output so far, but this was still a good start and something any of their fans should look into.

ProgBagel | 3/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this THE MARS VOLTA review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.