The Mars Volta: Octahedron
An unconventional move from one of the most unconventional bands of the 21st century.
At the Drive-In’s Relationship of Command is one of the most explosive punk albums you’ll ever hear. But while it may seem unhinged on the surface, there’s an abundance of melody throughout that’s tied together with insanely good hooks. I cannot speak highly enough of this album.
However, several months after its release and at the height of their popularity, At the Drive-In went on an indefinite hiatus. Three of the five members went on to form Sparta while lead guitarist Omar Rodriguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala moved on to bigger and better things. At the Drive-In was fantastic — there’s no question about that. But in hindsight, they feel like a stepping stone for what would be Omar and Cedric’s next project, the Mars Volta.
For most of the 2000s, the Mars Volta made a name for themselves by fusing progressive rock and post-hardcore with a heavy dose of Latin. Their first three albums are incredible, though it needs to be said how much better Frances the Mute is than De-Loused in the Comatorium and Amputechture. I don’t mean to take anything away from those albums, but Frances is just that good.
However, their fourth album, The Bedlam in Goliath, was not my cup of tea. It was very much a Mars Volta album, but it didn’t captivate me the way their previous albums had. Aside from a handful of songs, most of the album is forgettable because there’s so much going on all the time — too much of a good thing, if you will. Thankfully, Octahedron, the follow-up to Bedlam, was the breath of fresh air I needed as a fan.
The reason Octahedron stands out in their catalog is because it was unlike anything they had done before. Not because it was more experimental or had wilder performances, but because it was straightforward and accessible, though I use those terms loosely. After all, we are talking about the Mars Volta.
While deemed their “acoustic” album, it isn’t in the traditional sense like Nebraska was to Bruce Springsteen. There’s plenty of electricity-driven instrumentation throughout, but the music is much more toned down in both volume and aggression. Again, it wasn’t an acoustic album. It was their acoustic album.
“Teflon” and “Desperate Graves” cement the point the band was trying to make. While the songs are chock-full of electricity, the performances are not, and that’s okay because, well, they’re great songs. The Mars Volta showed they could tone down their sound without boring their listeners.
But the band does show a more tender side, songs that one could appropriately call “acoustic.” “Since We’ve Been Wrong,” “With Twilight as My Guide,” and “Copernicus” are about as minimal as the Mars Volta gets here. Not that they needed to prove anything, but these songs serve as a reminder that just because they weren’t making heads spin, their songwriting prowess hadn’t been compromised.
“Cotopaxi,” Octahedron’s heaviest, most chaotic song, is quintessential Mars Volta. It’s as if they took the normal album structure and inverted it. Instead of one obligatory acoustic song on an otherwise hyper album, we get the opposite — a left-turn song on a left-turn album from a left-turn band.
The Mars Volta would go on to write music that was more accessible than when they first hit the scene, but Octahedron is the best of the bunch. I can understand why it may get mixed reactions from fans, but I think that’s a selling point. Being a polarizing artist means you’re taking risks. Sure, there are plenty of acts who are great at staying in their lane, but the Mars Volta isn’t one of them. They got to where they were at by being unpredictable, and Octahedron was not only an unpredictable move, but a testament to their artistic integrity.
If you’re interested in listening to the Mars Volta or other bands I’ve covered, click the link below and check out my Spotify playlist!