By: David Schultz

There's an old saying that "if you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes." Now, while the aphorism has been applied to many different parts of the country outside of the Northeast, it seems an inordinately appropriate expression to describe The Mars Volta. Listening to any Mars Volta album – or any Mars Volta song for that matter – if you don't like what you're hearing, just wait a few minutes (yes, some of the songs are that long), it will change into something completely different. On their latest album, Amputechture, The Mars Volta continue to hone their painstakingly crafted pastiche of metal and progressive rock, coming up with an album that reveals something new with every listen.

Essentially a wildly productive partnership between guitarist and producer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and singer and lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, The Mars Volta specialize in a lovingly created mix of neo-classical speed metal that transforms itself into prog-rock on methamphetamine. Rodriguez-Lopez creates the music; Bixler-Zavala writes the lyrics. Having created albums centered on the dreams of a failed suicide that ends up in a coma (De-Loused In The Comatorium) and on the stories contained in a deceased band mate's diary (Frances The Mute), The Mars Volta have deviated from their concept album motif on Amputechture, creating the album without an all-encompassing theme.

Musically, Amputechture results from Rodriguez-Lopez's vision: in the studio, he has in mind specifically what he wants from each instrument and meticulously brings it to life. Though capable of handling the intricate guitar riffs on his own, Rodriguez-Lopez recruited Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and current touring partner John Frusciante to handle the lion's share of the axe work. Frequent collaborators Juan Alderte and Jon Theodore are also asked to push some songs forward: Alderte adds a loitering, menacing bass to the spacey psychedlia of "El Ciero Vulnerado;" Theodore offering gonzoish bongo-centric percussion on "Day Of The Baphomets."

The ten minute plus opuses ("Tetragrammaton," "Meccamputechture" and "Day Of The Baphomets") could possibly be separated into two or three separate songs but for the fact that the various disparate segments flow seamlessly and thematically into each other like movements in a classical symphony. Evolving from the Frank Zappa school of musical arrangements, The Mars Volta fearlessly take their songs in wildly different directions: on "Vicarious Atonement," they move through the blues and spacey, nourish jazz; on "Meccamputechture," they take frenetic but restrained keyboards into an avant-garde mélange of horns and piano before emerging on the other side to close with a pleasant keyboard melody; on "Viscera Eyes," they completely revamp Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Underfoot" with Alderte contributing a rumbling bass throughout and on "Tetragrammaton," Bixler-Zavala sandwiches a sparse guitar interlude with romps through straightforward prog-metal, singing with a voice that sounds like it's recorded in fast forward. Bixler-Zavala can do more than just howl; on "Asilos Magdalena," he croons through the acoustic Spanish troubadour song with ultimate suave charm.

The Mars Volta are clearly gifted musicians who possess a musical vision that differs significantly from your garden-variety rocker. Not many bands are confident enough to crawl to the precipice with lightning-quick, speed-metal guitars only to retreat into a jazzy, avant-garde interlude or Latino-inflected rhythms. With so much to discern in each song, it's hard to tell if The Mars Volta are to be enjoyed or whether their music should be placed on a pedestal and studied. Either way, the California based band has produced a challenging album well worth the investment of time and mental energy.

Labels: The Mars Volta