Tag Archive: The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta Break Up; Sads Ensue

Filed Under: Another One Bites The Dust, General News

Jan.24, 2013

The Mars Volta

Today is a sad day indeed. The Mars Volta, creators of one of my all-time top ten albums, masterminds of avant-garde/prog rock/space rock/salsacore albums such as The Bedlam In Goliath and my favorite, Frances The Mute have broken up. Damn.

Frontman Cedric Bixlert Zavala announced the breakup via a series of tweets, including:

All I can do is move forward with my music and just be happy that mars volta ever happened at all. God Damn we had a blast. Thank u again

— Cedric Bixler Zavala (@cedricbixler_) January 24, 2013

This sucks. I never had the chance to see them live, but I was hoping they would tour off their new album and that I could see them sometime. Now it looks like it’ll never happen. Such a shame that their relationship soured; they were a great musical pair, and made some of the most memorable rock I’ve ever heard. While their later albums may not have had the same intensity as their earlier records, they were definitely a band that did things differently and made it all work. So R.I.P. The Mars Volta. We’ll miss you.

2001-2013

-SS

Tags: avant garde, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, faster louder, Frances The Mute, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, prog rock, salsacore, space rock, the bedlam in golitah, The Mars Volta

Let’s Get Physical: On Buying Physical Music

Filed Under: Editorials

Jan.22, 2013

file0001330267055

I love buying music. It’s probably my favorite things to do. Whether it is limited edition vinyls or cassettes or the obvious old CD, I love it. It’s the reason why my bank account is looking so slim right now, and is the result of constant explorations, discoveries, and the need to collect everything possibly by my favorite artists. But with things like Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, and Last.FM, many see the act of buying physical music as impractical and unnecessary. I, along with many other writers on this blog, am one to completely disagree and argue that buying music in physical form is an experience, similar to seeing a band live. Robb Flynn of Machine Head recently said in an interview it just didn’t make sense and that he would ever buy another physical CD again. Sorry, Robb, but you’re sorely mistaken.

View Full Article »

Tags: Machine Head, Meshuggah, Morbid Angel, The Mars Volta

Inhumed’s Top Ten of 2000-2009: #10, #9

Filed Under: Albums You Should Hear, Lists!

Jul.30, 2012

The first decade of the new millennium was a big one for me, and also for the metal community. After the nu-metal craze and all the hoopla about grunge music, many metal acts began to feel disjointed, releasing boring or bad albums that stagnated them instead of letting them progress further. But metal always prevails, and in these first ten years it has seen a resurgence of bands that are the future. Some bands on this article are not “metal”, but are a type of rock music that is heavy in it’s message and lyrics, and not necessarily guitar tone. This list is dedicated to what I think are the most important albums of that first decade, and I hope you enjoy!

10. THE MARS VOLTA – FRANCES THE MUTE

What can be said about The Mars Volta that as not already been said time and time again? The dynamic duo of Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is one that is both famous and infamous, from their humble beginnings in At The Drive In to the present day. Critically lauded as one of the greatest live acts around today, these guys have had a slew of albums, but one album of theirs is truly a stand-alone work of genius, and one that contains not only my favorite song of theirs in ‘Cygnus… Vismund Cygnus‘, but also my favorite conceptual piece. That album, of course, is Frances The Mute.

Their sophomore album builds on the influx of chaos from their first record, but does so in a much better way. Rather than construct a concept, they built a story. Not only that, but the tracks run together on the latter half of the album, which is roughly 46 minutes of the total 77. The writing, as always with a Volta album, is not only cryptic and hard to follow, but borderline genius. The sporadic nature of the lyrics contrasting some of the straightforwardness of the songs they play over is remarkably hard for any band to attain, even The Mars Volta.

Omar, however, is The Mars Volta. He writes the vast majority of the music for the band, and I think he is one of the greatest musicians of our time. Just listen to the shifts from chaotic, all over the place to building soundscapes, while he wanks his guitar in the background like a 13 year old learning it for the first time. He definitely knows how to create layers upon layers of sound.

I love this record. It embodies every aspect of The Mars Volta that I love and leaves all the errors elsewhere. If there was ever a band that felt pressure to release their sophomore album, it was The Mars Volta, and they knocked it out of the park.

View Full Article »

Tags: Serj Tankian, System of a Down, The Mars Volta

Ne Obliviscaris – Portal Of I

Filed Under: Reviews

May.18, 2012

Ne Obliviscaris

Portal of I

01. Tapestry Of The Starless Abstract
02. Xenoflux
03. Of The Leper Butterflies
04. Forget Not
05. And Plague Flowers The Kaleidoscope
06. As Icicles Fall
07. Of Petrichor Weaves Black Noise

[05/07/12]
[Code 666 Records]

Black metal is quickly evolving from a one-off listen to a personal favorite of mine. There is just something about its music that entrances me, something other-worldly. I also happen to like its distant nature, by which I mean its ability to still sound heavy without downtuning a guitar. Take the first Mayhem record; standard tuning, but some of the heaviest songs I have ever heard. I also really enjoy some more relaxing non-metal acts, such as The Mars Volta and even (yes, true story) Dave Matthews Band. Part of what attracts me to both is not only their versatility, but their sometimes shocking surprises.

View Full Article »

Tags: Agalloch, Alcest, Between The Buried and Me, Dave Matthews Band, Enslaved, Krallice, Mayhem, Ne Obliviscaris, The Mars Volta

Baroness Perform ‘Take My Bones Away‘ Live

Filed Under: Live, New music, Upcoming releases, Video

Apr.26, 2012

Skip to 4:30 for ‘Take My Bones Away’

It would seem that everything is starting to fall into place in anticipation for the recently announced Yellow & Green double album. So whilst this video was recorded last August (!?), this live performance of ‘Take My Bones Away’ couldn’t have surfaced at a better time – anticipation for this record is huge as far as I can tell and Baroness seem to be getting exponentially bigger ever since they were picked up by Q Prime management, a company more used to dealing with the likes of Metallica and The Mars Volta.

Thankfully, this doesn’t seem to have affected the music too much. ‘Take My Bones Away‘ sounds like it could’ve easily slipped into the ranks of The Blue Record and it only leads to believe that maybe Yellow & Green will be a logical progression on from what we’ve seen so far, rather than the enigmatic ‘pseudo-metal’ record it’s been described as so far. Only time will tell, but you can bet that I’m excited about this one.

[Thanks to Axl and MS reader Kit Hart!]

- DL

Tags: Baroness, blue record, Metallica, Q Prime, The Mars Volta, Yellow & Green

T.R.A.M. – Lingua Franca

Filed Under: Reviews

Mar.09, 2012

T.R.A.M

Lingua Franca

1. Seven Ways Till Sunday
2. Consider Yourself Judged
3. Endeavor
4. HAAS Kicker
5. Hollywood Swinging
6. Inverted Ballad

[02/28/12]
[Sumerian Records]

The cover art of an album is a lost art. When put in the right hands, the cover art can compliment the album to make for a more memorable experience with the album. For example, take last year’s Februus; the absolute beauty of that album art tugged at my heartstrings. The voluptuous colors used in the background, the contrast of the sun and the uneven structure, and the subtleties, like the spark-esque lights in foreground and the individual tree in the background, simultaneously fostered a very warm atmosphere with the album, and made me enjoy the album that much more. Why? Because it made me picture the album art as part of the music. The music was very lush and very beautiful, much like the album art.

One can liken that same concept to supergroup T.R.A.M.‘s debut album, Lingua Franca, and its album art. Firstly, notice the colors. Very inviting, using a good mixture of warm and cool colors. Secondly, notice the painting, with its green sky and the strange use of purple. Finally, notice the main attraction of the art, the two foreground characters. Notice the alien and her color green. Also notice how she has four of almost every limb. Next, notice the primate to the left. How he’s showing off his gold watch to the alien, as well as his hat. Finally, notice the beverages they have in hand, and how they both have subtle smiles on their faces, seemingly inviting you in. If you accept, there’s only one thing you’re in for.

A real fucking weird time.

View Full Article »

Tags: Animals As Leaders, John Coltrane, Lingua Franca, Ornette Coleman, Suicidal Tendencies, T.R.A.M., The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta Flash The Bling With ‘The Malkin Jewel‘

Filed Under: New music, Upcoming releases

Feb.14, 2012

Yes, I do hate myself for using that word.

Nevertheless, The Mars Volta, long-term brainchild of both former and current At The Drive-In members Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (so yeah, it’s relevant!), have are streaming the first single from their forthcoming album Nocturniquet , entitled ‘The Malkin Jewel‘ over at their website.

The single is available for free download from today from the above link, with the album coming March 27th through Warner Bros.

- CG

Tags: At The Drive-In, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Nocturniquet, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, The Malkin Jewel, The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta To Drop Noctourniquet This Spring

Filed Under: Audio, New music, Upcoming releases

Jan.19, 2012

The Mars Volta is not a name bandied around here often, but with the recent reformation of At The Drive-In, it only seemed right that we tell you that the brainchild of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala will be releasing their new album Noctourniquet on March 27th, probably on Warner Bros.

The tracklisting is as follows:

01. The Whip hand
02. Aegis
03. Dyslexicon
04. Empty Vessels Make The Loudest Sound
05. The Malkin Jewel
06. Lapochka
07. In Absentia
08. Imago
09. Molochwalker
10. Trinkets Of The Pale Moon
11. Vedamalady
12. Noctourniquet
13. Zed And Two Naughts

Noctourniquet will be the first Volta record to include drummer Deantoni Parks, who spent much of 2010 touring with Omar as part of his solo live band, and in fact was in the band for a short spell in late 2006.

Various live bootlegs of new TMV material have been appearing online for a little while now, and with this confirmation of details, the following (admittedly low quality) version of the title track gives us a little flavour of what it will be like:

One thing that I’ve always enjoyed about The Mars Volta over ATD-I is Cedric’s voice; he was chaotic and unbalanced with his former band, and although it absolutely worked, his craft has only improved with time. Tentatively looking forward to this one.

After the jump, ‘Molochwalker‘!

- CG

View Full Article »

Tags: At The Drive-In, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Deantoni Parks, Molochwalker, Noctourniquet, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, The Mars Volta

T.R.A.M. Debut Album Lingua Franca Finally Gets A Release Date

Filed Under: General News, Upcoming releases

Jan.10, 2012

Last year, we were teased with word of a new supergroup featuring Animals as Leaders guitarists Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes, The Mars Volta‘s Adrian Terrazas on saxophone, flute, bass clarinet and percussion, and Eric Moore (Suicidal Tendencies) on drums. Their debut album Lingua Franca was promised by late 2011, but that never really materialized and word on the album has been quiet since. Now, Sumerian Records have finally announced that the record will see release February 28th!

You can listen to an unmastered track from the album, ‘Endeavor’, above. Who’s excited?!

- JR

Tags: Animals As Leaders, Lingua Franca, Suicidal Tendencies, T.R.A.M., The Mars Volta

At The Drive-In: This Station Is Now Re-Operational

Filed Under: General News, Video

Jan.09, 2012

With the news of The Human Abstract‘s demise and iconic Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi contracting lymphoma, 2012 really wasn’t getting off to a great start.

However, after eleven years of silence, an almost mythological five-piece are to once again make music together. Music that has sparked and influenced so many in ways that only the likes of Refused or Metallica have, and been heralded as some of the greatest heavy music of its kind of the last century.

You read that right, people: At The Drive-In are reforming. In the above message posted via Twitter, speculation from as far back as 2009 has been confirmed. The nature of the operation is unclear, but an interview with frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala in Drowned In Sound suggested old wounds were healing, and that if ever the members were in the right place then he at least would be more than open to it.

The band originally went their separate ways in 2001 on the cusp of becoming absolutely huge, and members went on to form experimental rock band The Mars Volta and more familiar post-hardcore stalwarts Sparta. It was a creative differences sort of thing, and some words were said in the heat of it, but in the intervening time a lot of records have been produced and people, as the invariably do, have grown, and now seemingly the time has come once more.

You’ll forgive the excited tone here, and I know that tomorrow I’ll be mulling over what this might actually mean, and be a little more hesitant until I actually hear any new material (if that is, indeed, the aim), but for tonight I am balls deep in Relationship Of Command, and if you haven’t followed any of what you’ve just read, then this is possibly one of the greatest songs of its time and genre; ‘One Armed Scissor.’