To me, The Mars Volta are like Santa Claus, insofar as I look forward to any of their new releases with as much anticipation as a five-year-old on Christmas Eve. Such was the case in the months leading up to January 2008’s release of The Bedlam in Goliath. I had been aching to ingest as much TMV as I could after Amputechture completely rearranged my musical sensibilities and tastes in the fall of 2006, and the seemingly interminable wait for the next album was probably akin to what a junkie experiences when he or she can’t get a fix.
As the fall of 2007 passed, a date was finally set for The Bedlam’s release and a tantalizing snippet of what was to follow was offered to fans when “Wax Simulacra” hit the internet. It was still painful, though, because the song clocked in at just under three minutes. At the three minute mark in most TMV tracks, things are just getting good. Nevertheless, “Wax Simulacra” fed my addiction for a short while.
When I finally got my hands on the whole album, I nearly wept tears of joy. Well, not really, but I hope you can appreciate how eager I was to get into a proper listening environment (dark room, headphones) and just gorge. Once I hit the second half of the opener “Aberinkula,” I knew I was in for a treat.
Yes, I definitely enjoyed TBIG. I can’t see how you wouldn’t if you were already accustomed to their complex sound. But how does it compare with the rest of their catalog?
TBIG, like two of its predecessors De-Loused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute, is purportedly a concept album. I’ll take Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the creative forces behind TMV, at their word, but it’s hard to make much of Bixler-Zavala’s cryptic and often nonsensical lyrics. Oddly enough, I thought Amputechture (the album they claim is not concept album) had more of a universal theme, as it bludgeons you over the head with its constant references to religion. Anyway, the guys claim that the recording of TBIG was filled with a whole lot o’ bad luck after Bixler-Zavala received a strange Ouija board from Rodriguez-Lopez. The bad juju led to lost recordings, a sound engineer having a nervous breakdown, et cetera. The story is a bit much (especially for a skeptic like me) but whether it’s a fabrication or not, it adds an intriguing element to the music.
TBIG hits the ground running with “Aberinkula,” where Bixler-Zavala’s falsetto demands, “Have you seen the living tired of their own shells?” What follows is an interesting musical dichotomy that exhibits why TMV is so great. The first half features Bixler-Zavala wailing with the band dutifully creating an organized cacophony of guitars, percussion and synthesizer behind him. The second (and better) half is replete with urgency. The commanding guitar lines are answered by a panicked saxophone solo that is nothing short of amazing. Other highlights are the funk-rock of “Ilyena,” the stadium-sized guitar riff of “Goliath,” and the Middle-Eastern influences of “Soothsayer.”
One noticeable change in the group’s music is the addition to drummer Thomas Pridgen, who brings an explosive and energetic change to the kit. I’m generally an ignoramus when it comes to percussion, but I couldn’t help but notice the incredibly intense drumbeats that prop up “Wax Simulacra.”
And I daresay that Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s guitar work is a bit more constrained and focused on this album. But by other standards, that’s still not very constrained and focused. There are still sprawling musical constructions like “Metatron” and “Cavalettas,” but nothing of “Tetragrammaton” grandeur.
To my wife’s chagrin, Bixler-Zavala’s cloying falsetto is still omnipresent on the record. Love it or hate it, it’s most definitely a signature of TMV’s music. But they did choose to run it through some voice modifiers here and there, which prove to be interesting. The fade-in, fade-out of “Cavalettas” is likely to cause head trips whether you’re on hallucinogens or not. On the flipside, his vocals have arguably never sounded stronger than they do on “Soothsayer” or “Conjugal Burns.”
So, to make a long story short, if you liked any of the TMV’s previous work, this album is right up your alley. If you haven’t cared for them in the past, there’s nothing redeeming here (save for the interesting background story, if you didn’t find yourself rolling your eyes while reading it). Their sound has become more nuanced, but it’s not likely to win over any listeners who didn’t get hooked on De-Loused in the Comatorium.
As for me, I once again find myself in that “in-between” stage, anxiously awaiting the next release. I’ll be all right, though. Don’tchoo worry ‘bout me.
Happy listening!
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