The release of a new Mars Volta album
is a special event in the musical calendar. It’s not since
the halcyon era of the late Sixties/early Seventies that a band
on a major label releases music that is so uncompromising and
experimental. Of course most ‘purchasers’ will restrict
themselves to locking-in on the over-arching melodies and vocal-prowess,
and ignore it (or worse, change track) when the band proceed to
engage in their psychedelic Jazz-fusion freakouts. But it is this
lack of comprising and utter disdain for the formulaic rock-song
which is what is so endearing and delightful about The Mars Volta.
Like many epic prog albums from the 70’s era, ‘The
Bedlam In Goliath’ is a concept album. The concept revolves
around the purchase of a strange gift by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
purchased for Cedric Bixler-Zavala whilst on a trip to Jerusalem.
The gift in question was a ‘ouija-type talking board’
which became part of the bands post-show ritual but soon after
the band had interacted with the board, dubbed the ‘Soothsayer’,
numerous events of bad-fortune occurred which nearly left the
recording process in complete tatters. Suffice to say, the board
was buried in a never-to-be-disclosed location, as an attempt
to undo the curse and halt the unforeseen tragedies.
Recorded and mixed at Ocean Way Studios
in Hollywood and Rodriguez-Lopez's home studio in Brooklyn, New
York, ‘The Bedlam In Goliath’ is a 75minute epic consisting
of 12 tracks which, on average, weigh in at between 5 and 9 minutes.
Utilising a range of influences ranging from 70’s progressive
rock, Jazz-rock fusion, free-Jazz, blues-rock, funk, psychedelica,
contemporary rock/metal as well as Eastern motifs, The Mars Volta
set out their stall as the most inventive band exposed to today’s
mainstream audience. Carrying on in the rich musical vein of its
three predecessors, ‘The Bedlam In Goliath’ sees the
band carve out intricately crafted, prog-rock epics which continuously
twist and turn. Like an audio mushroom-bomb, the band detonate
unique instrumental elements spontaneously to create a vibrant
and visceral tapestry which pounds you into submission whilst
stimulating and exercising your cerebral. Consisting of boundless
guitar noodling, shuffling Jazz-rock percussion, spiraling psychedelic
feedback, progressive keys, throbbing bass, and free-Jazz inspired
wind-instrument melodies, The Mars Volta really lay siege to the
speakers with their instrumental artillery. The musical skills
gained from Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s immense personal forays
into free-Jazz and Jazz-rock fusion certainly shine through, but
these have been expanded and contextualized into a prog-rock aesthetic
which is what makes this such a mouth-watering proposition. On
top of this is the unique throat-work. With Cedric’s vibrato
vocals now reaching ‘Cult Rock-Idol’ status, he fluctuates
pitch and tone like a man possessed whilst the lyrics continue
to be ambiguous and gloriously random.
On the storming opener, ‘Aberinkula’,
no time is wasted in introducing the scale of what will follow.
Psyched-out sound manipulations, skree-drenched guitars, energetic
Jazz-metal orientated percussive clusters and elongated vocals
peak and trough in tempo and intensity to create a disorientating
display of contemporary prog-rock madness. It is the closing two
and a half minutes which are really special though as the band
create a dark and throbbing ethno jazz-rock fusion soundscape,
(bringing to mind Subarachnoid Space jamming with the Mahavishnu
Orchestra), which really elevates the listener into another dimension.
Simply Stunning. On ‘Ilyena’, the band expertly fuse
a pop-rock orientated melodic hook to a turbulent backdrop of
funk infused psychedelica to create a modern classic which throws
up an image of Prince meets King Crimson. The single, ‘Wax
Simulacra’ is a short-burst (2:38) of infectious and visceral
song-crafting which is close in spirit to the angular punk-rock
of At The Drive-In, albeit jazzed up and psyched out.
Things are mixed up with the Americana-laced
freak-out jams of ‘Goliath’ which harks back to the
late Sixties psychedelic era when the likes Fleetwood Mac and
Led Zeppelin reigned supreme. Although it is reined in by intermittent
choruses, the seven minute track moves effortlessly across spaced-out
psychedelic territory before making an excursion into ‘Acid
Mother’s Temple’-esque hydro-psyche. Towards the albums
close, the nine minute epic, ‘Soothsayer’, lurks with
sinister intent. Utilising massive production values, gorgeously
harmonized vocals and Eastern-instrumental motifs, the track builds
into a dark Jazz-rock-orientated epic backed up with busy percussion
and spaced out sound manipulation, all of which collide synergistically
to transport the listener into the heart of the image displayed
on the album art.
With continued success and stadium-rock tours alongside the likes
of the Chili Peppers, pessimists would have bet on the band distilling
their sound in favour of a cleaner, more radio-friendly approach.
The fact that they have increased their musical complexity, stuck
with lengthy tracks and fully embraced many facets of experimental
rock has to be met with the utmost of respect, both on part of
the band and Universal records. Apart from the single, it is hard
to see any of the tracks being played on anything other than alternative/specialist
radio stations! Typically, as this is a major label release, numerous
marketing events have coincided with the release of ‘The
Bedlam In Goliath’ including an online game, mini webisodes,
cover artwork puzzle and special edition USB format release. What
happened to it being just about the music? One hopes that the
mysterious ‘Soothsayer’ Ouija board is never found
so that The Mars Volta can continue to produce works of such scale
and grandeur. (RM)
*Note* Like many intricate and complexly
arranged pieces of music, the quality of playback medium can make
a big difference to the listening experience. With the rich timbres,
wildly contrasting tones and intricate musical arrangements of
such an album, substandard methods of playback will reduce the
album to its bare skeleton and this may make it sound almost unlistenable
in certain segments.
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