The Mars Volta Album: “Octahedron”

I was a little skeptical when I first picked up this CD. The Mars Volta is one of those bands that one can easily classify as "all over the place" or "crazy." They're a not-so-accessible tour de force of maniacal percussion, guitars, and screaming vocals. They take a long time to appreciate, but eventually, after your brain manages to sift through the layers of complexity of chaos, a beautiful and impressive scenery often emerges that was previously invisible and unrelatable.

This album is far more subdued, hence the skepticism. It's difficult to call any territory "familiar" to the Mars Volta, but this album surely treads into calmer and more unfamiliar waters than ever before. Sure, it's a bit more poppy and classically-structured (often with the verse-chorus-verse, etc.)--but man, are these tunes awesome. The opener, "Since We've Been Wrong" is laid back, emotional, and gives such an adrenaline rush when the drums finally kick in at the 5-minute mark that you know you're in for a ride. Teflon kicks in with a radio-friendly up-tempo beat with all around great singing and energy. Halo of Nembuttals is one that slowly grew on me as the time passed--I'd call it one of my favorites now. The melody is one that I first found slightly annoying, yet soon realized I couldn't get it out of my head--and now I love it.

The next tune, With Twilight As My Guide, introduces how good The Mars Volta is at writing slow songs. The two standouts on the album--this tune and the later Copernicus--are very slow but so full of emotion and build so well that you'll be playing it on repeat for days. Juxtaposed with the accessible "Desparate Graves" and the album closer Luciforms--this album really holds a pleasing mix of slow, fast, and medium-paced songs. The more I've listened, the more each tune continues to impress me.

I have always been very impressed by this band, but I've never been able to REALLY get into them. I already had Deloused and Francis, parts of which I really loved, but I was never able to like it enough to give the albums consecutive repeat listens. A once through every long once in a while would wet my whistle, many times not even finishing the album. I wanted to make a compilation album and forget the rest, but I never got around to it. I can't really say much about their other albums because I have never given them a chance. I stumbled across a review of Octahedron, not even knowing it had been released. Reading that this album had "went acoustic" immediately struck my interest because it has always been their softer, calmer songs that really grabbed me. It is without a doubt that this is the Mars Volta album I've been waiting for. Not only does it get played all the way through, but I've not been album to stop. I've been playing it almost once a day for a month and I love it more with each listen. Yes, it utilizes more acoustic than ever before, but it is still full of electricity. I'm not sure what my problems were with their past efforts. I'll be the first to admit I obviously didn't "get it" as a whole, but the magical moments were many and they kept me interested. Now that I'm hooked on Octahedron, I definitely need to revisit the past.

I loved The Bedlam in Goliath, so adjust your barometer accordingly when considering my review. The previous Volta album was a muscular, diverse, intense, disturbing, ambitious album with little reprieve throughout; Octahedron is, from one possible perspective, constrastingly refreshing. From another, it is a weak, dissolved effort; the shortest, slowest, and quietest album thus far from the band, and with few surprises. For those who found that TBiG rocked too hard, the subdued Octahedron will offer some relaxed music, but (as I imagine the majority of fans' opinions are directed) the rest may find disappointment.

As I've indicated, the album is short. Eight tracks, fifty minutes. A numerical analysis suggests the band has grown lazy. Anyone familiar with the progressive death metal band Opeth might see an analogous situation between Deliverance/Damnation and TMV's TBiG/Octahedron. It's clear the decision here for a less bombastic approach was deliberate; the lingering question is whether or not the change is appealing. All TMV fans (in my experience) adore De-loused; many consider it the band's greatest piece of work (I tend to vacillate), and Octahedron contains several cuts that remind the listener of parts from De-loused. Copernicus is almost equal parts Televators and Radiohead. The drawn out, reflective melodies and harmonies featured consistently over the album are interesting, but there is nothing here as haunting as Miranda That Ghost..., or as sprawlingly eerie Soothsayer. Desperate Graves does steal the catchy chorus award, making it a highlight of the album.

The album does rock in parts, and the results are generally not failures. Luciforms, the longest track on the record, alternates heavy, mid-tempo sections with ponderous, mysterious ones; building up towards a climax that is embarrassingly reminiscent of Tetragrammaton (one of the greater pieces of music the band ever created). This latest track doesn't approach the level of visceral delight characteristic of Amputechture, however. This is the worst album from the band and arguably the least progressive; it isn't bad, but hopefully we can expect more energized efforts from them in the future. It seems that the unpleasant occult experiences associated with TBiG may have scarred TMV's creative tenacity. Still, the album is worth hearing for its more exciting moments. Since We've Been Wrong exudes a lulling drift of atmospheric, melancholic prog-pop/rock that beckons at the album's gates for a full listen.

The Mars Volta show a new side on this cd and a welcome one as far as I'm concerned. I got into these guys with The Bedlam In Goliath, which was full throttle almost the entire disc and quite chaotic feeling upon first listen. This cd is the almost complete opposite and really shows the dexterity of this group. Even the more up tempo songs, such as Teflon, Cotopaxi, and Desperate Graves,show the group can crank it up and maintain a more composed sound. I don't really get the negativity towards this disc, but I'm bit more open minded to change than most. I would be perfectly happy if Mars found a way to combine the two styles effectively. A very enjoyable listen this one is. Open your ears and mind folks!

Having been a fan of TMV for only about 3 years now (stunning considering I've been into PROG for a good 25 years), my comments may not be taken seriously by the die-hards. I do have the entire catalogue so I'm not a complete novice.

I can't understand the complaining. Every release has had a different feel. I found it very refreshing to hear a toned down Volta. I love the chaos of Bedlam and the intricacy of FTM and so on but this gave me a chance to really hear their abilities as song writers. This often is well presented in more formulaic hook-driven music. There is enough chops here to give the hard-cores a chubby. This is no downward spiral I'm sure. Musicians (being one myself) have the same mood swings as any artist and perpetuate current moods by craft.

I dig this hell out of this CD and highly recommend it. I think this would be a good starting point to new fans. It's just odd enough to catch interest and melodic enough to not require 10 listens to absorb. Bravo.