The Mars Volta
The Bedlam In Goliath

THE REVIEW

Hyper-pirated, illegally acquired, UPHO (Unidentified Provenance Heretic Object), preview not granted. See it as you like, but on my computer comfortably sits the new work by Mars Volta!

If you knew how happy I am! Uh, the wait was becoming unbearable, I couldn’t handle waiting until January 28th (official release date), and knowing that there's always some clever guy sneaking around to swipe material in advance, I did not miss the chance. It was a long search, but in the end, I found it, and in no time I blasted it on the trusty Windows Media Player.

Now, while the police and the Mars Volta in flesh and bone come looking for me to beat me up, I can announce my sincere consolation in knowing that after an ultra-wonderful album like Amputechture, I find a boundless energy in The Bedlam In Goliath, the new "magnum opus" of the group.

The previous album made some people frown due to a fairly pronounced change in style, giving more emphasis to heavy than to psychedelic/progressive atmospheres. Personally, I saw it as a great leap forward, because although I liked De-loused in the Comatorium and Frances The Mute, in some parts, they tended to lose themselves and drop in tone very often.

With Amputechture, we witnessed the first masterpiece of Mars Volta, who, angrier and more determined than ever, created one of the few modern albums that, after 70 minutes of listening, still leave you drooling. Amputechture was therefore a symbol of evolution and innovation, in which Mars Volta broke the chains to give themselves over to a higher energy.

The Bedlam In Goliath therefore takes off on a paved road: the new style of the group works, wonderfully. The only thing left is, after the experiment (which is much more than a mere trial), to dive headfirst into the wildness that this sound allows. I’ll say it again, even a hundred times if necessary: I think in this style, Mars Volta truly find themselves; it's THEIR style, now finally unmistakable.

Cedric Bixler Zavala uses his voice as it should be used, the brilliant guitarist Omar A Rodriguez-Lopez surpasses himself, and the other members play their roles always magnificently: bass, drums, keyboards... finally, everything is in its place. Nothing can stop this amazing band, now in the Olympus of my "modern" collection.

How to point out a particular track? "Metatron", "Cavalettas", "Agadez", but it wouldn’t make sense, because it would belittle the greatness of all the other tracks. Trust me, it is much simpler to surrender to this orgasmic tour-de-force, steeped in psychedelia but also in good old hard rock.