The Bedlam In Goliath

Performer: The Mars Volta
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: With its furious sonic assault, wildly surrealist sensibility, and volatile mystique, the Mars Volta seemed like a band that would gloriously self-destruct after a couple of albums. Although the Los Angeles-based post-punk/prog-rock group did allegedly almost break up prior to THE BEDLAM IN GOLIATH, the record finds vocalist Cedric Bixler Zavala, guitarist Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez, and company still creating a fascinating racket more than four years after its startling 2003 debut, DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM. Informed by Rodriguez-Lopez's bad ouija-board experiences, THE BEDLAM IN GOLIATH is typically cryptic in its subject matter, and unsurprisingly fiery in both Bixler Zavala's signature wail and the ensemble's tight instrumental interplay, particularly on the surging "Wax Simulacra." While Rodriguez-Lopez's searing guitar lines are at the fore, BEDLAM's secret weapon is the drumming of new recruit Thomas Pridgen, who propels the songs forward with a pummeling, tightly wound momentum (see the shifting rhythms of "Goliath"), bringing a palpable sense of vitality that reverberates throughout the album.

Rolling Stone (p.80) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here is a great leap in songwriting -- closer to classic hard-rock force and melodic drama -- that, in 'Goliath,' 'Cavaletta' and the Holy City atmospheres of 'Soothsayer,' is even more jolting than the weirdness." Uncut (p.84) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Their trademark psych-prog barrage is still in full effect...here it's pinned down by restless rhythmic energy." Alternative Press (p.145) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "12 tracks of blistering post-hardcore, propulsive Latino-funk jams and progressive-rock segues..." Kerrang (Magazine) (p.46) - "[With] more shades of nuance and flashes of brilliance derived from that sprawling Mars Volta formula..." Kerrang (Magazine) (p.61) - Ranked #15 in Kerrang's Best Albums Of The Year 2008 -- "The Mars Volta's time is now." Q (Magazine) (p.99) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]heir signature riffing and convulsive time changes remained intact....There's greater scope here than ever before..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.113) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] squall of face-melting sonics and psych-jazz explosions....The Mars Volta are making music built to last." Blender (Magazine) (p.99) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Never before have these kings of experimental metal sustained such pulse-quickening energy, honing their tricks -- cryptic lyrics, cliffhanging cries, spine-tingling rhythms -- into a screaming arrow of sound." Clash (magazine) (p.111) - "From opener 'Aberinkula' onwards what we have is the testimony of the only survivors to the court of King Crimson, a prog-masterpiece that singes ears and baffles minds." The Word (magazine) (p.101) - "The Mars Volta manage their energy-changes with computer-voiced wind-downs and white noise....Undeniably brave."

Though Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler Zavala did time in popular Emo band At The Drive-In, their subsequent project, the Mars Volta, is a horse of an entirely different color. Instead of punk, the pair takes their influences largely from 1970s prog rock and fusion. Extended, suite-like compositions and dizzying instrumental virtuosity are the order of the day, rather than adolescent angst and primitive pounding. Mars Volta's debut album, 2003's DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM announced the band's presence with a bang, setting a standard for post-emo ambitions in the mid-2000s.

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