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On its seventh studio album, Noctourniquet, The Mars Volta fashions a beautiful, psychedelic mess without sacrificing any of the group’s classic traits.
Noctourniquet is a concept album based in part on Hyacinthus, the divine hero from Greek mythology. Cedric Bixler Zavala sings his customary hard-to-follow lyrics, his vocals still produced beyond recognition. Though the lyrical content of Noctourniquet is not immediately clear, this is the type of album into which one can invest many listens and continually notice new themes.
The album plows to a start with “The Whip Hand,” complete with grimy guitar, slow steady percussion and dense lyrics. The band keeps rocking through “Aegis” and “Dyslexicon,” adding frenetic drumming, which becomes a new norm on this album. But the band understands the importance of variety both in tone and tempo. On “Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound,” the listener takes a much- needed respite from the hectic pace of previous tracks. The song is a hypnotic semi-ballad as strong as the band has ever written.
“The Malkin Jewel” is a half-way pounding ballad, reminiscent of a more technical Meat Puppets, the Phoenix alternative rock band formed in the 1980s who are seen as a key influence for such bands as Nirvana and Pavement.
The song is soon followed by “Lapochka,” a textbook example of new drummer Deantoni Parks’ wildly off-kilter style. Parks is a welcome addition to the band, clearly able to keep up technically, pushing many tracks to earth-shaking climaxes and all the while never seeming to over-play. This is also the first record without a contribution from ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante.
The halfway point of the album strikes the listener with the fact this album is over an hour long with no songs longer than eight minutes. The lack of true epics, like “Cicatriz E.S.P.,” is highly unusual for the band but not a single song feels weak or underdeveloped on this collection.
The album presses on through “In Absentia” and “Imago.” The band proves it understands the diversity of its own music enough to keep it interesting even after 40 minutes. “Trinkets Pale of Moon” offers the first acoustic guitar while “Molochwalker” introduces guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’ first and only flesh-tearing solo.
Someone unfamiliar with the band’s music will probably grow exhausted with this album before the halfway point purely because it is dense and takes mental stamina. However, the diversity in tone and equal smattering of prog, krautrock and Latin sensibilities keep this album from dragging. It is not recommended for people with short attention spans, but on Noctiourniquet, The Mars Volta provide its fans with another classic collection of songs.
