If I’m not mistaken, the first full length album by The Mars Volta, Deloused in the Comatorium is released in America today, although I’m not sure when we get it here in Australia.
If you’ve heard anything about The Mars Volta, you’d know that it was founded by Cedric (vocals) and Omar (guitar) from At The Drive-In, who were the ‘it’ band for a while before they spilt up. But that’s basically where the similarities end.
This band makes what has to be the most exciting and complex music I’ve heard in years. Normally I hate prog-rock and songs that go for more than 5 minutes, but I LOVE this. They avoid the wanking and prententiousness of typical prog-rock (that’s just my opinion of course, I still enjoy bands like Rush and Dream Theater occasionally), and instead go for weird jazz-influenced spaced-out jams.
Anyway, I won’t ramble on incoherently about this band any more, so I’ll just say this: I really, REALLY reccomend picking up their new CD. It’s something fans of bands as diverse as Rush and Black Flag can all agree on. It’s… fantastic music.
Here is a good fan site for The Mars Volta:
So, are there any other fans here? Has anyone picked up the new CD yet? If so, what are your impressions?
I’m not very impressed with what I’ve heard so far. I thought ATD-I were one of the most exciting bands of recent years, and could have become even more amazing, but the emotional intensity and power and the physicality of their music is lacking in The Mars Volta. ATD-I were capable of writing enormously complex 3 minute long punk rock songs; I’d really rather have that than 10 minute long jazz-rock tracks.
I saw them last month open for the Chili Peppers. They were interesting, and I’d like to hear their studio stuff. But I didnt think they were anything special.
Having just gotten their album and given it a few listens, I must say, I’m impressed. Their EP didn’t amuse me that much, but this I enjoy immensly. Although I don’t like them as much as Sparta, I’d say this was definitely 8 bucks (yup, 8 bucks at tower) well spent. But I’d still take ATDI over both Sparta and Mars Volta, but not by much.