The Mars Volta: 'Octahedron'

You always have a bit of an inkling as to what you might get when a new album arrives. In the case of The Mars Volta, you expect wacky, spasmodic histrionics and a rather eventful and bizarre aural ride. However, their latest long player goes totally against the grain and is actually surprisingly subdued.

‘Octahedron’ verges on the mainstream, with the rambling fret board masturbation stripped back, the overzealous song structures removed and the overall length trimmed to a healthy 77 minutes. It’s a curve ball that wasn’t completely unexpected though. The word around the web was that this was going to be an acoustic album; clearly it is not, although it is perhaps more a mellower Volta that we are experiencing.

It is still recognisable as MV with its sonic landscapes and incoherent lyrical make-up. Plus with the likes of ‘Cotopaxi’, the jazz-based freak outs are still in place of sorts, and MV ensure the listener hasn’t nodded off. It's not a record that grabs from the start, however. The practically inaudible and extended intro to ‘Since We’ve Been Wrong’ leads into the album, yet the expected MV diversity just never really happens, which is a little disappointing.

It has a darker feel than previous efforts, but Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and co have fully reined in the histrionics to create a surprisingly mainstream album that actually works very well. It may divide the true MV fan base to an extent, but as a casual listener it is definitely worth a punt.



Released on 22nd June 2009 by Mercury.

Written by Mark Wrigley.