preconceptions out the window on the wings of some searing electric guitar sustain, though it does take a good five minutes before the drums actually kick in. The song’s aching melody meshes perfectly with Bixler-Zavala’s introverted promise to “find a way out through those eyelids,” as well as the track’s melancholy air of alienation and resignation. As Bixler-Zavala muses at one point, “I seem to feel like I don’t belong here.”
There’s a similar lost-in-space vibe at work on “With Twilight as My Guide” and “ Copernicus,” both of which use ominously plucked arpeggios, stately keyboards, and echo-drenched electric leads to create an almost Pink Floydian effect. Bixler-Zavala’s high-pitched vocal stylings—which generally make Geddy Lee sound like Phil Anselmo—are actually quite beguiling in this particular atmospheric context. Far tougher to take are his overwrought performances on harder-rocking tracks like “Halo of Nembutals,” the Led Zep-ified “Cotopaxi,” and the eight-minute closer “Luciforms.” Not only do they distract from the band’s impressive interplay but they occasionally even make Rodríguez-López’s wicked guitar freakouts sound soothing by comparison.
Then again, musical excess has always been an integral part of the Mars Volta experience, and if rampant self-indulgence doesn’t sound like your kind of good time, Octahedron isn’t going to be the record that converts you to the cause. But Mars Volta diehards—as well as prog-rock fans who enjoy a bit of space travel mixed in with their mind-boggling blasts of technical proficiency—will find much to love. DAN EPSTEIN
THE MARS VOLTA’S CEDRIC BIXLER-ZAVALA ON HIS FAVORITE TRACKS FROM ‘OCTAHEDRON’ “TEFLON” just had it and it fit with the song he was writing and I’ve been listening to a rough version of it for a while it made me really happy because I hadn’t heard the now, and it had no drums. It was just an electronic sample in ages. It just took me back. It reminded us piece. I always loved it. It reminded me of some sort that he’s still here. of B-side form Girls Against Boys, but our style. I had been writing the lyrics and sort of testing the waters of how much I could say if McCain had won the election. I don’t usually write anything about things like that. I think “Teflon” is my favorite because it kind of has that slacker attitude of someone who doesn’t vote but at the same time is giving a fuck. I think a lot of people maybe could understand that.
“COTOPAXI”
“HALO OF NEMBUTALS” We got to use an old sample from [former Mars Volta member] Jeremy [Michael Ward], who passed away [in 2003 of an apparent drug overdose], to begin this song. It starts off one of his old MiniDisc noise records that he worked on; he had the sample leftover that he’d done for De-Loused [in the Comatorium, Volta’s 2003 debut] that we never got to use. It was cool to bring that back… Omar [Rodríguez-López, guitar]
I liked writing “Cotopaxi,” because the time signature was really odd. I was really, really pissed off having to work on it. I wrote some lyrics on the spot and had to edit it and take away some connecting adjectives and stuff like that, because the time signature was so different that it was just really, really hard to sing to. It was a fun challenge. At the time I was mad. I was throwing things around and getting pissed off because I’m not used to fucking up. I was mad that I finally got a song that was kicking my ass. It was challenging me and beating me. So I liked writing that one the most. VALERIE McQUEEN
Merauder GOD IS I (REGAIN)
Following the death of founding guitarist Sob in 2006 and numerous lineup changes, it
seemed like NYC’s Merauder were destined for the metalcore scrap heap. But frontman Jorge Rosado had more to rant about, so he assembled yet another crew to record this fourth album. On God Is I, the band’s brawny, grooving thrash—inspired by New York’s nastiest (Cro-Mags, Biohazard, etc.)—still has the power to peel skin off heads. Sure, it’s no Master Killer, Merauder’s vicious 1996 debut, yet Rosado, with his L’amour-tested roar, and guitarists Darian Polach and Dave Stafford, with their grimy-gutter riffs, do get the job done, NY-style. JEFF PERLAH
1349 REVELATIONS OF THE BLACK FLAME (CANDLELIGHT)
In the four albums that followed 1349’s self-titled
2000 debut EP, the Oslo, Norway, crew established a reputation for unadorned, relentlessly ripping black metal—which is why their new full-length is a little disappointing. 1349 deliver some flesh burners, but these are interspersed with dark ambient tracks (an influence of co-mixer Tom G. Warrior?). Instead of ratcheting the tension toward a chaotic blastoff, these cuts act as anchors that restrain the album’s drive. Hopefully these moments are just growing pains, and 1349 will soon be able to reconcile their arty, ambient ambitions with their swarming metal roots. SUREN GUPTA
Originally known as
END, France’s Eryn
Non Dae fittingly conjure up a sense of the end of it all with their harsh, oppressive, and complex songs. Like when Neurosis or Meshuggah are at their most potent and pissed-off, Hydra Lernaia sounds like the apocalypse is indeed nigh. It’s a pastiche of extreme music styles— from dark ambient to death metal to doom— that while not wholly unique, is nonetheless bracingly powerful. This is the rare album
where mood is more important than songs, and dissonance, halting rhythms, and raw-throated, monotone vocals create truly bleak soundscapes. ADEM TEPEDELEN CONTINUED
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