One of America’s most ambitious acts The Mars Volta are preparing to release their new album ‘Octahedron’ later this year.
The Mars Volta seem to occupy a bizarre and strange universe all of their own. Formed from the ashes of seminal berserk punk outfit At The Drive In, the group began re-introducing elements of prog rock into their music.
What has followed has been a series of albums that are by turns amusing, confusing and unlike pretty much every band on the planet. Famed for lengthy live shows, the band once played a set at Reading festival and could only fit in a couple of songs. Good grief!
Forthcoming album ‘Octahedron’ is the band’s first since 2008’s ‘The Bedlam In Goliath’. The recording of that album was held up due in part to a bad experience with a Ouija Board – the studio flooded twice and the recording engineer suffered a nervous breakdown.
The new album clocks in at a surprisingly slim 49 minutes, and contains seven songs. Which is strange, as Octahedrons have eight sides. Whatever, the big point of interest on this album is the inclusion of John Frusciante.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers axeman will unite with the afro-clad outlaws, with fans eager to hear the results. With Frusciante’s solo output ranging from commercial rock to all out cathartic screaming, it could frankly sound like anything.
As if that wasn’t enough, singer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is due to release ‘Cryptomnesia’, the debut album from his new band El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez later this year. The album features numerous other members of the Mars Volta, as well as Hella drummer Zach Hill.
The Mars Volta are due to release their new album ‘Octahedron’ on June 23rd. Tracklisting is as follows:
1 Teflon
2 Halo of Nembutals
3 With Twilight as My Guide
4 Cotopaxi
5 Desperate Graves
6 Copernicus
7 Luciforms
