The Mars Volta’s Octahedron Review

The Mars Volta always manage to get people off with their soft psychedelic beginnings and hard core endings; their new album Octahedron is no different. The Grammy Award winning band has done it again, but in Octahedron, The Mars Volta give in to their softer side (not referring to the last 2 minutes of nearly every song, which seems to be more like “improv-jam” sessions), which is exactly what the band needed; a change from all their pre-endless chaos.

In Octahedron, The Mars Volta prove that whether it’s acoustic or electric guitars, they will deliver a sound that sends you into a psychedelic adventure. Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez mixes in elements of punk and jazz, which coexist perfectly with Cedric Bixler-Zavala‘s falsetto vocals. The mixture of these two create a melodramatic piece; screams and chaos, yet all under a soft roof.

They start off with a Since We’ve Been Wrong, which is surprisingly light; blending guitar effects that sound gloomy with Bixler-Zavala’s falsetto vocals and give away a great dose of progressive rock. Although Octahedron is much more softer than any of their other albums, there is an awkward transition into Teflon because the song’s a hard hit compared to the previous song Since We’ve Been Wrong.

Towards the end there’s Copernicus which mixes early blues and jazz in a very impressive way; something that I never thought the Mars Volta could deliver, but I was proved wrong apparently.

Octahedron is a must, seriously because if you thought your couldn’t take the post-progressive hardcore sounds of The Mars Volta because every songs you heard of them lead to ultimate chaos, listen to Octahedron, you’ll be blown away.

Check out The Mars Volta Myspace now streaming “Teflon,” “Cotopaxi,” and “Since We’ve Been Wrong.”

Octahedron Track Listing:

1. Since We’ve Been Wrong
2. Teflon
3. Halo of Nembutals
4. With Twilight as My Guide
5. Cotopaxi
6. Desperate Graves
7. Copernicus
8. Luciforms