Amputechture (The Mars Volta)

I’m the only Mars Volta fan I know, so I doubt anyone else will care, but… here is my real-time review of their new record.

I’ve avoided listening to the leak for some time, but I just paid 300$ to see them live so I think I’ve earned the right. I’m worried about this album, for three reasons:

1 - The departure of drummer Jon Theodore, because of his unwillingness to practice enough, or so the story goes. I have to wonder if the heart of it might really be his lack of enthusiasm for the new material.

2 – The Denver show. The new songs were hard to follow, and left little impression on me, except one of confusion. The rhythm was tight, but musical intervals were obscured in a wall of noise. Identifying melodies and harmonic context proved impossible. I think it’s likely this could be blamed on technical issues, because even “Roulette Dares”, which I know better than the alphabet, sounded murky, and I don’t think it was because of the performances, which seemed solid.

3 – “Vermicide” and “Viscera Eyes”, the only tracks from Amputechture I snuck a listen to, which have both been released as singles. They seemed lifeless, predictable, and uninspired. I’m really hoping the rest of the album will be more interesting or I’ll have to give it a bad review, something I could never imagine doing to “The Most Exhilarating Rock Band on the Planet”. A hard reputation to live up to, I know.

“Vicarious Atonement”

Opens with a mysterious sound pastiche. Waveforms surge and crash behind loose guitar riffage. A grin spreads across my face as I’m pulled into this unmistakably familiar soundscape. Instruments are better separated than on Frances. I can hear the whole band, plus the condiments. Omar’s got a new repertoire of studio tricks. Jazz piano near the end – a new element to the Volta, but I expect eclecticism. Adrian’s sax rivals the guitars in textural malleability. So far, so good!

“Tetragrammaton”

This is so Mars Volta. It could be the work of no one else. I’m relieved they’re remaining true to themselves, and yet pushing beyond what they’ve put out the last two albums. I’m hearing longer, more complicated chord progressions, complex harmony that isn't just atonal noodling, more interesting rhythms, production, and melodic sound salads reminiscent of Boards of Canada’s last album. Fucking yeah!

Omar is unbelievable at layering guitars. It’s almost symphonic. Intro and verse are well-linked. Incredible drive. Sounds like they’re building upon what they’ve done in both Deloused and Frances. A nostalgic, forward-looking fusion. Tremolo guitars and leslied organ build to a climactic wail from Cedric who stars in this section, wresting control from Omar’s sonata.

Now I understand why I couldn't make sense of the new material at their live show in Denver. The mix must be zestfully clean to convey these ideas with any fidelity, unless the listener already know where it's going, tonally. Otherwise, it will sound like mush. I didn't realize what they were doing with these songs. Now I do. Also, this stuff would be very challenging to pull off live, even moreso than the already demanding Deloused and Frances. It’s going to be an interesting touring year for The Mars Volta.

Narcotized ebb explodes into gloriously self-indulgent guitar over Jon’s asymmetrical drumming, and if that’s not Omar I’ll be damned. Ikey is well represented, much to my delight. Tempo picks up as the vocals auto-tune in octave modulation. We get both clean and demonic Cedric in rapid succession. He goes farther out with digital manipulation every album, and gets away with it. “The kiosk in my temporal lobe is shaped like Rosalyn Carter”. Okay Ced. And I’m supposed to believe you don’t do drugs anymore? He sounds almost poppy at times, with the harmony, but I don't mind too much, I'm stretching out with him stylistically. The Mars Volta are as uncompromising as ever – always following their inspiration, wherever it takes them. I’m glad they make music for themselves and not their fans.

Sax seems to be playing Dies Irea in counterpoint to the chaos. A breakdown in the truest sense of the word, hypersonic madness. Tetragrammaton is reminding me of Take the Veil, with its patchwork of varying intensity levels. The song is a labyrinth, so many twists and turns, so many rooms, all connected with subterranean catacombs and hyperspacial wormholes. Awesome at 10:45, this album is knocking my expectations out of the park. I'm with you all the way Mars Volta, I'll follow you into hell (which is probably where Pitchfork Media – ironically enough – thinks I’m going).

Now a slow saxophone figuration over organ drone. They’re using the sax less as occasional solo flourish and more as an integral part of the arrangement. A progressively densifying guitar thrashes over the augmented harmony and melds into the voice. Sounds very Mahavishnu here, but in a uniquely Mars Volta way, about as far from generic as can be imagined. This is the music of the future.

14:00 and Tetragrammaton’s still going. A brilliant variation on the repeated A riff, this time with sax climbing upwards on each note, then a typical Mars Volta recap closes it out, with extra crazy guitar morphing into the surrounding waves of fiendish ambiance. The song dives a screaming death into a pit of static. It’s like a terse Cassandra, with actual chord progressions. This is the kind of epic rock I feared might be absent on Amputechture, based on the singles. Not a chance. The heart remains. I can't believe I thought this album would suck. Well now I know what's up – Vermicide and Viscera Eyes are Amputechture's "Widow".

“Vermicide”

I still feel it’s a little dull and uninspired, but I appreciate it a lot more in context. It's more like a section of a larger song. It doesn't stand on its own so well. But coming as a break from the fury of Tetragrammaton, it's lovely. Guitar tones are gorgeous. There’s something annoyingly poppy about it. But Cedric doesn't give a fuck if I think that. He's going to sing what he likes, no matter how trite I think it sounds, because he's into it. And more power to him. I like it better than The Widow, anyway.

If this album's missing something, it's an obvious concept we can relate all the music to, as a narrative. Deloused and Frances both had that, though Frances was considerably more obscure. But Amputechture still sounds like the soundtrack to a non-existent movie, what Omar the director seems to go for.

Great drumming around 3:00, Jon’s really livening this up. Vermicide would be nothing without this band’s unique style of playing and production, which is so good it makes a bad song worth repeated listens.

“Meccamputechture”

The music blasts out of the gate with four chords of Jon and Juan goodness – bitchin’ drum and bass, absolutely tragic this duo has fractured. Cedric’s almost rapping, bringing to mind his old vocal style from At The Drive In, nice contrast to his trademark wail. Too bad he does this so rarely nowadays. At least he’s venturing outside the blues scale occasionally, but his melodies are mostly predictable.

The sax is taking over some of the rhythm guitar, creating a more interesting counterpoint to Omar’s omnipresent lead shredding. I wasn’t sure about the addition of horns for a long time, but now I’m sold. Enjoying Ikey on the rhodes. I'd like him to lead occasionally though. He seems content to be Omar's organist.

The chorus is rocking my cock off! Cedric can make hackneyed melodies sound sublime. I'm noticing they're using a host of different effects for the drums. An unconventional style of production. I can see why Omar wants to go it alone in the studio. He's an artist, which is why many call his band pretentious. Some people have a problem with art. I salute his arrogance. Deloused had a lot of sound manipulation, but it also had a gritty vintage rust to it, like ‘70s sci-fi. This album has more of a futuristic, Shpongelian techno-tweak, like tryptamine hallucinations instead of an opiate delirium. Omar can freak out on the guitar as long as he wants. Builds to what sounds like an impending climax of titanic proportions at 5:30, but is suddenly sucked away in a vacuum.

I wouldn't mind some new by chords by this point. I know there’s nothing left to innovate in harmony, but they could be more interesting. Well they dropped down to a minor in the middle of the chorus repetition, which is more variation than L’Via offered.

Jazzy jam at 7:30, spicy interplay between keys and sax. Jon pounds away, Juan riffs away, hissing sound collage twists along, all in the absence of Omar. Love the dissonance. I’m bludgeoned with sound. Ikey brings it out of the chaos with a triumphant, outright solo. Is that Marcel on congas? They damn well better play this live!

It's going to take a while for these songs to become standards like Deloused tunes are now, and Frances tunes to a lesser extent, songs that people yell out to request at concerts with regularity. But they will. They'll sink in.

“Asilos Magdalena”

Magdalena is Morricone on mescaline. The opening synth/guitar combo reminds me of Ozric Tentacles. Then it goes into an austere guitar and voice acoustic number. Cedric the Matador. I like Omar's harmonies, though I guess that's probably Frusciante playing. If so, right on. As long as he's not writing the music. This would be another great song to add to their live repertoire. I like the restraint on this track. Can't imagine where it's going to go.

Now the satanic texture creeps in. Sonic imagination run rampant through the floors. The voice becomes distorted dementia, acid eaten, biting guitars like blackbirds pecking out your eyes. Sensory decay. I have no idea what the song is about. I'm sure the lyrics won’t help when I get around to reading them – assuming I can find a decent translation.

I’m glad they put a Miranda on the album. Televators, Miranda, and now Magdalena. The Mars Volta are great at this slow moody creeping towards the inexorable climax stuff. This style of theirs is underappreciated. I can see why Omar is into in scoring films.

“Viscera Eyes”

Vermicide and now Viscera Eyes. Same deal. One of the weaker songs, but still, much MUCH more enjoyable in context. Like the perfect rocking interlude to a meandering jam at a concert. If they played through this album in order, at concerts, with crazy improv breaks like they did in The Electric Ballroom show and a lot of their sets in 2003, I'd forgive the lack of Deloused material.

This song sounds more worldly. Content to remain in the mold. Conventional rock, which is why I'm not as enthused with it, but I'm much more receptive now. I can still hear ATDI-influence in the catchiness of it. Took me a while to assimilate the horns, but now I’m digging the sonic evolution. Resistance is futile.

Great, simple, solo around 4:00. Ah, there's actually new stuff here, the version on MySpace was shorter. Funny, the promo material they release gives me lower expectations than warranted. Kind of like movie previews. Lucky I downloaded the leak or I might not have bought the album. Hear that, RIAA? They made this song sound lame by taking out all the cool bits for MySpace. The core is perfunctory, but when they stray from that, it’s great.

More soloing. Definitely an Omar solo. I can't believe people disparage this guy's guitar playing. True, I'm not a guitarist, and he may not be a supervirtuoso, but it's fascinating to me, and it's got a shitload of soul. A nice fusion of heart and head. If it's actually John in this section, I'll have to eat my words.

Haha, they go from outer space oddities to proto-funk guitar rock that recalls “All Along the Watchtower”. I see the need for this song, at this point in the tracklist. Lest we forget the Volta are grounded in classic rock and capable of pumping out RHCP-like anthems if it suits their purposes.

“Day of the Baphomets”

Woah, that bass. Go Juan! This guy needs more solos. Fuck, did they do this in Denver? I can't remember. I'm going to have to see them live as headliners. Hopefully they'll have pulled it together really tight, and their goddamn mix will be decent.

Yeah! Go Ikey! Adrian compliments beautifully. This song seems like a reworking of Plague Upon Your Hissing.

I haven't heard any more exciting progressions like in Tetragrammaton, but a lot more predictable ones. No memorable melodies like on Eriatarka, or Cicatriz, or Miranda. That's another thing this album's missing. And there’s plenty of Spanish flavor, but no real L’Via-style salsa to speak of, which is a shame. But there's more than enough cool stuff to make up for those deficiencies.

Sick drumming at 4:30. Definitely sounds like Jon. And new chords, yay! And Omar's kicking ass, and trading off with Adrian, and they're both playing way outside the bar lines, awesomeness! They’ve gone full bore prog for Amputechture, which is just fine by me. I wouldn’t have thought they could get away with this much sax, but it fits right in.

Cedric's going crazy with the vocal effects, perhaps to his detriment. He’s using harmony too much, I miss his unaccompanied tone. He sounds like just another instrument in Omar's studio jam project. It seems like his creative contributions have been shunted to the side, and he’s not as organically integrated into the album as he was in Deloused, and Frances to a lesser extent. I'd love to hear this live though, I imagine it'd be more satisfying for Cedric fans as the effects and production wouldn't be so dominant, and he'd have a larger percentage of the overall impact, if properly miced.

Classic Mars Volta at 7:12, sounds like it could have come from the Deloused sessions. More off kilter harmony ala Tetragrammaton. Outrageous guitar solo over psychotic shots. Sounds like hellacious fun to play. No one is spared the mephistophelean reverie. This is why I love The Mars Volta. Exorbitant anarchic means to controlled chaotic ends. Now a manic drum break. “Baphomets” showcases the whole band. Fuck, this album rocks. It's like they took my Mars Volta wishlist and put every item on here. Oh God, but I’m gonna miss Jon.

“Put a muzzle on the lamb”. Already high vocals are harmonized with a double tuned up an octave. Ikey’s organ is the perfect contrasting timber to the guitar.

“El ciervo vulnerado”

An abrupt transition to a track that mirrors the opener. Both recall Omar’s solo album, “A Manual Dexterity”. The piano is back, this time with massive echo. Bass slinks along, surefooted in the absence of percussion. A ghostly mood, a voice from the grave, like Ambuletz, and the ambient parts of Miranda. Soundwaves swirl in dark mists. I get pulses of imagery from this when I close my eyes, feels like someone is blowing dimethyltryptamine smoke into my face every few seconds.

This track is pure hallucination. Organ grinds in at 5:20 and fades quickly. Brief sitar drones. More psychedelic than Sgt. Pepper. Dissonant horns. Convulsing guitar, sounds like it's fucking the sax. Fantastic stuff, I feel sorry for people who can't get into this. It’s the tryppiest album they’ve put out yet. Ideas overflow, outpace technique, push the specs to the bleeding edge and beyond. The Mars Volta are back! Hell yeah!

Like Deloused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute, Amputechture reminds me there is plenty of great, innovative music yet to be written, and inspires me to get back to work on my own stuff. I’m pre-ordering the CD right now.