The Mars Volta

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By Dan ⋅ July 8, 2008 ⋅

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You’re either going to love or hate this band. The Mars Volta is on a fine line. The music snob is likely to say they’re too commercial and structured, while the common listener is likely to say they’re too unconventional and off the wall. To be perfectly honest, I can’t really handle the long drones at the end of many of their tracks, but everything leading up to that is near blissful.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Mars Volta includes ex-members of At the Drive-In, who split in 2001 to The Mars Volta and Sparta. I was a big fan of At the Drive-In back in high school (another one of my random purchases), but I never got the chance to see them live before they split. The Mars Volta took At the Drive-In to a whole new level bringing an even more unique sound with more progressive and ambient influences.

I first got into The Mars Volta with Frances the Mute (2005) and Tremulant (2002). Tremulant is an EP consisting of only three songs, which could be a good reason to start with it as you could find it pretty cheap. Even still, it’s a great EP and certainly worth purchasing. If you’re not used to / into experimental, you might need to skip the first two minutes of ambient noise. Frances the Mute is my favorite thus far. Cygnus… Vismund Cygnus is an incredible track, as is The Widow (which received quite a bit of critical and media attention when it was released). I’ve since purchased Deloused in the Comatorium (2003) and was equally pleased. I have yet to purchase Amputechture (2006) or their most recent release, The Bedlam in Goliath (2008). From just a glance, their latest album seems even more experimental and would probably not be the best album to start with as I have a feeling only the hardcore fans will appreciate it.

The Mars Volta is definitely a strange band, but they keep my interest with their easily recognizable technical articulation, fantastic creativity, and excellent use of odd-meter and tempo changes. Every album is a sound mixers nightmare (or dream if they’re crazy enough) since there are so many over-laying parts, but the band is still able to pull it off live. I’ve read that the band records each part in the studio without having the luxury of hearing the rest of the band, only a metronome. If you’ve haven’t tried playing by your self with just a metronome, it’s far more difficult than playing with the feel of the whole band… but that skill makes for a playing a very tight set live.