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The Mars Volta - Octahedron CD (album) cover

OCTAHEDRON

The Mars Volta

 

Heavy Prog

3.68 | 466 ratings

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ProgBagel
Prog Reviewer
4 stars The Mars Volta ? Octahedron 4 stars

The 'acoustic' album.

This album was a proving point for The Mars Volta. It is not an acoustic album by any means, but their version of one. Translated into terms we can all understand, the drums aren't as spastic, LESS electronics, LESS jamming and ONE trademark Omar solo. It's a real look on how the band can play without all the studio effects and dynamic twists, and they prove here that they can do that.

The beginning number is the most representative of the 'acoustic' form which is a laidback ballad with guitar and vocal interplay, similar to the start of Amputecture. The lyrics can be absurd as ever, but still drag the listener in because Cedric hits the notes in all the right places. 'Cotopaxi' can be one of the bands most straightforward pieces but is a solid rock song, volta style, with Cedric's vocals being as poppish as possible, and it's a damn good song. The only real jam comes in at the end of 'Desperate Graves' which was cool considering a volta jam implemented into a song not even 5 minutes long.

I have to be one of the few that does not think highly of 'Halo of Nembutals' and 'With Twilight as My Guide'. These are simple songs that have the biggest acoustic feature, but it lacks anything memorable that 'Televators' and 'The Widow' were able to do.

The Mars Volta got the job done for what they intended to do. Once again, the songs that were good here fit at the top of anything they released. I hope this is a light snack compared to the next album, which is already done apparently. Cannot wait for the next release.

ProgBagel | 4/5 |

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