Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Mars Volta, The
Label: Universal Music Group
Release: 2008
Duration: 75:45
Rating: 3.5/5
The Mars Volta were one of those modern experimental bands that polarized prog rock fans from the very beginning of their journey. That went on right up until their premature breakup in 2012, when the founders, guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, decided the band had passed its expiration date and it was time for other projects. Opinions are still pretty split on whether The Mars Volta were one of the most talented and interesting prog rock bands of recent times, or simply a slightly overrated bunch of ex-punks who suddenly discovered they were great musicians with a flair for boundless sonic experimentation, but who went about it without any real heart.
On one hand, their blend of classic prog rock, salsa, jazz fusion, prog metal, psychedelia and alternative rock, which they brought with them when they emerged at the start of the new millennium after the breakup of post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, was something fresh and special on the modern prog scene. On the other hand, their noisy approach, atonal, smeared sounds and oscillating guitar effects gave plenty of people gray hairs, not to mention the fact that Cedric’s distinctive vocals were definitely not for every taste.
They won over mostly fans of avant-garde offshoots of prog rock, led by acts like King Crimson, Can, Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, since their rhythmically demanding music was insanely complex and often chaotic, while also featuring (more or less) socially critical lyrics. The younger generation of fans, meanwhile, was lured in mainly by the noise and the raging they’d kept from their old punk days. Either way, their credit for getting numerous younger generations of listeners to explore progressive rock will never be forgotten, even if they never get back together.
By the time their fourth studio album, »The Bedlam in Goliath«, came out, The Mars Volta were already an established name, respected by most fans of experimental/heavy rock, though plenty of ‘doubting Thomases’ didn’t fully trust them as the leading lights of modern prog, simply because they’d done so unusually well commercially so early on. Most Mars Volta albums had a concept, and »The Bedlam in Goliath« was no exception. It was their first album with drummer Thomas Pridgen (Suicidal Tendencies). The curious and almost bizarre concept grew out of the band members’ strange experience with some weird board game that Omar bought during a trip to Jerusalem. The game, which they named ‘Soothsayer’, was something Omar, Cedric and the rest of the band played obsessively on the tour bus for a while, and it almost turned into a ritual after every show.
Suddenly nothing but bad things started happening to them: drummer Blake Fleming, who had fallen into financial trouble, left them in the middle of the tour. Cedric had to have surgery on a suddenly swollen leg, while Omar’s studio was flooded and all the audio recordings had mysteriously vanished earlier amid constant power outages. The peak of the bad luck was the nervous breakdown of the sound engineer at the time, who no longer wanted to work on the new album, claiming ‘The Mars Volta intend to drive him insane first, and then the rest of the world’. Superstitious Omar simply snapped the ‘cursed’ board game in half in the middle of recording »The Bedlam in Goliath« and buried it underground, telling no one where, and sternly insisting that ‘Soothsayer’ never be mentioned again. From then on the bad spell was supposedly broken, and the band was able to finish recording the album.
Stylistically, »The Bedlam in Goliath« was a less eclectic and subtle effort than its predecessor »Amputechture« (2006), as it was their hardest-hitting and roughest album yet. The band goes almost nonstop wild on every track, with frenzied drum fills, atonal electric guitar sounds and loads of dirty sound effects, while the jazzy and Latin flavors are only there for show this time. With its wild nature, »The Bedlam in Goliath« was probably more to the liking of At The Drive-In fans and less to that of devotees of classic prog and fusion, although certain rhythmic nuances and crazy improvisations in the middle of instrumental moments were pure win.
That fiercer approach can already be heard on the opener »Aberinkula«, which sets the sonic standard for most of the rest of the album. It’s a bit annoying that Omar’s raucous vocals show up right at the very start of the track, which, after »Aberinkula«, happens again on the no less noisy and dirty sonic carousel »Metatron«, named after a biblical angel. »Ilyena«, which supposedly refers to the real name of famous English actress Helen Mirren, is finally a somewhat more subtle effort with an interesting, slightly nostalgic atmosphere and funky guitar passages, and one of the rare moments on the album where Cedric proves he can sing in a ‘pretty’ way too, if he feels like it. Omar is a guitar virtuoso in every sense of the word and doesn’t hold back on the crazy improvisations anywhere on the album.
»Wax Simulacra« is a more compactly structured track that won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, certainly a nice recognition for a composition that wraps up with a crazy woodwind improvisation. »Goliath« mostly has a relatively melodic structure and interesting vocal harmonies, peaking in a dramatic chorus, while the lead is constantly snatched away by raging improvisational bursts. »Tourniquet Man«, where Cedric shines with a moving vocal performance, is a shorter, avant-garde-flavored ballad with an acoustic guitar melody and ‘spacey’ digital effects.
»Cavalettas« is one of the album’s best moments, especially when it comes to stylistic variety and crazy rhythmic and improvisational detours that ‘blow your head off’ on every listen. »Agadez« has a bit more bluesy melos in its guitar phrases compared to the rest of the album, while the crushing drum fills and the occasional symphonic keyboard backdrop deserve special attention. »Askepios« features a crazy sonic transition from punkish heavy rock into pure avant-garde and fusion detours, and then back again the other way. »Ouroborous«, another rhythmically highly complex creation, has an almost thrash metal approach in its opening section thanks to the pounding double bass pedal, before chaotic ambient takes over again, paired with cacophonous sonic shades.
»Soothsayer«, the centerpiece of the aforementioned concept and of the whole album, features street sounds recorded in the middle of Jerusalem’s streets. You can hear the lively calls of Jews, Muslims and Christians, which blends nicely with the oriental atmosphere and pentatonic guitar scales of this interesting composition. This time The Mars Volta added gorgeous string arrangements which, amid Omar’s frenzied guitar improvisations and Cedric’s vocal chameleonism, nicely feed that oriental mood. On the post-apocalyptic, chaotic closer »Conjugal Burns«, where scattered rhythms and guitar raging dominate with destructive zeal, Cedric hits some pretty high vocal notes. The cacophonous ending of the track, on the other hand, was no big surprise.
»The Bedlam in Goliath« was the most bruising, atonal and dirty album in The Mars Volta’s (thus far) discography, meaning Omar and Cedric took a step back this time in arrangement variety and melodic sensibility, putting more emphasis on their sonic roots. That said, »The Bedlam in Goliath« is still far from a bad album, since there are still plenty of experimental moments that ‘old school’ fans will enjoy, but with its uncompromising, raging nature it’s certainly less interesting than the previous three efforts, where every listen, amid the fascinating ambient variety, could uncover something new. Omar and Cedric clearly learned that going back to their At the Drive-In roots wouldn’t get them through the next phase of The Mars Volta’s artistic evolution, so with the next album, »Octahedron« (2009), they created a much more subtle effort that showed a completely different face of this cult American band of Latin origin.
Line-up
Omar Rodríguez-López – guitar, synthesizer
Cedric Bixler-Zavala – vocals
Isaiah Ikey Owens – keyboards
Juan Alderete – bass guitar
Thomas Pridgen – drums
John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) – guitar
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez – percussion, keyboards
Adrián Terrazas-González – flute, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, percussion
Paul Hinojos – sound manipulation
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Henry Trejo – “Because”s on “Agadez”
Nathaniel Tookey – orchestral arrangements on “Soothsayer”
Sam Bass – cello on “Soothsayer”
Edwin Huizinga – violin on “Soothsayer”
Charith Premawardhana – viola on “Soothsayer”
Anthony Blea – violin on “Soothsayer”
Owen Levine – double bass on “Soothsayer”
Production
Omar Rodríguez-López
Track list
1. Aberinkula (5:47)
2. Metatron (8:13)
3. Ilyena (5:38)
4. Wax Simulacra (2:41)
5. Goliath (7:17)
6. Tourniquet Man (2:41)
7. Cavalettas (9:35)
8. Agadez (6:45)
9. Askepios (6:33)
10. Ouroboros (6:38)
11. Soothsayer (9:10)
12. Conjugal Burns (6:36
