By Marco Mandujaro
IV Leader Music Critic
The average Mars Volta album is never anything less than a
brain-frying experience, but just the story behind The Bedlam in Goliath is
enough to short out a few synapses.
Here's the simple version: guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
happened upon a Ouija Board while in Jerusalem and bought it as a present for
vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Aside from bringing them streaks of musical
inspiration, its usage coincided with numerous incidents of bad-luck, including
Cedric needing surgery and the band's engineer having a nervous breakdown.
So, what does this mean for the pro-rockers' fourth album?
Here's the simple version: it simply rocks.
They might have been through hell and high water, but Mars
Volta has come out on the other side sounding more visceral and potent than
ever.
What we get from the new record The Bedlam in Goliath is a
rich, noisy, 12-track recording piece with the widest range of influences and
musical experiments from The Mars Volta yet. Every track has its own personality
and takes the listener to the depths of the stereo sound system. The album’s
selections include from sci-fi effects, horror movie ambient music and drumming
from the good old days of At the Drive-In.
Influences range from Latin, Arabic, Indian hooks and swings,
bass-guitar lines that move the air and all possible music instruments put in
place for making the sound thicker. The listener can point out folk influences
from all around and of course world music bases with rock tunes.
Bits and pieces put together make the sound of Bedlam in
Goliath a complete work of musical engineering and demonstrate the huge range of
Zavala and Rodriguez’s talents. Tracks like “Ouruborous” and “Wax Simulacra”
will sound just brilliant live and because of this, I can’t wait to see them
perform. Check for tour dates on their Web site.
This record is certainly for The Mars Volta fan base and
beyond. Anyone who likes experimental progressive rock sounds should get this
album. It definitely is a step forward from their previous work. Picking up this
record the listener would get something challenging yet memorable to listen to.