The University of Idaho Argonaut

The Mars Volta’s most recent album ‘Bedlam in Goliath’ not a great step

With “Bedlam in Goliath,” The Mars Volta has managed to combine the technical genius of more recent albums with the more listenable organization and variety of older material like “De-loused in the Comatorium.”

With this new album, the band has shown how they can seamlessly combine their instrumentalism and taste better than the band’s prior album.
The band’s release of “Amputechture” in 2006 was disenchanting.

The CD felt like an hour of “look how good Omar Rodriquez-Lopez is at guitar,” bypassing the opportunity to produce thoughtful and explorative sounds like they did with “De-Loused in the Comatorium” and “Frances the Mute.”

“Bedlam in Goliath” abandons some of the long, noisy transitional interludes that have become characteristic of the band for a list of songs that can better stand independently. As always, Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s obscure, cryptic messages flow through his unmistakable voice to give the record an identity that only The Mars Volta can uphold.
While the creative mixing and lyrical concepts of past albums may have seemed more inventive, this album still feels like the next step.

The band has not lost their sense of progression by taking a more traditional recording approach.
The CD begins with an abrupt storm of whammy pedals and synthetic noises, trailing off into a sax solo.

The song seemed to pick up exactly where “Amputechture” left off, but the sense of order and musical reason that made “De-Loused” so catchy begins to appear on this record between the next two songs.

With “Ilyena,” the electronic buzzing of processed guitars and distorted bass deviates from their loose-flowing style for something more tightly rock-oriented.
“Wax Silmulacra” is likely the highlight moment of the CD.

The exploding drums, punchy vocals, booming rhythm section and stabbing guitar accents set the track apart from the rest of the CD.
The song is technical but crisp.

The middle of the album breaks into the highly psychedelic.
Nearly noise-core tracks make you think of The Sound of Animals Fighting. Eccentric smatterings of Latin-funk invoke the nostalgic feel of a Pink Floyd record.
At this point, the CD follows big sluggish bass lines into drunkenly slow guitar that is oddly appropriate considering the lightning-fast drum fills.

The section concludes with fast palm-muted guitar riffs to justify The Mars Volta’s status as a progressive rock band.
“Soothsayer” experiments with the ability to use guitar and synthesizer effects to continuously recapture the mood established by middle-eastern string instruments over the voices of a rambling, chanting crowd.

The album’s conclusion, “Conjugal Burns,” is not a selling point for the album, but doesn’t detract from the band’s success in producing something enjoyable for listeners and demoralizing for other musicians.