Profile: The Mars Volta

From now on the series of "Notable Artists" posts will now be replaced with a series of profiles. The articles will be essentially the same in style but with a few changes. In this I aim to achieve a greater consistency across the series in terms of the information included so as to aid comparison. I hope you enjoy the new format.

The Mars Volta are a Texan band who first became active back in 2001 (biographical information courtesy of wikipedia.org since the bio section of their official website was empty). Forming out of the remains of At the Drive In, they released their debut album in 2003 entitled De-Loused In The Comatorium. Many of the songs from this album still feature in their live sets today including Inertiatic Esp, a track of shorter length than a lot of their pieces.

Their brand of alternative, progressive, rock/metal has earned them a large following and they have become a very successful act to date. They currently have five studio albums released:

• Deloused In The Comatorium 2003
• Frances The Mute 2005
• Amputechture 2006
• The Bedlam In Goliath 2008
• Octahedron 2009

Having listened to them all I'd say that my favourite album is Octahedron, I love the balance between progressive rock and riff-like melodies as well as the nice extras like 30 second piano trills that just make it that bit more interesting. However what is in my opinion their best songs are both on Frances The Mute and are called The Widow, and L'Via L'Viaquez. The former is very catchy and works fantastically live, it's one of those songs that gets the crowd swaying and draws you totally into the music. The latter, which I haven't seen live, I like partially because of its bilingual nature. It switches between English and Spanish, and as someone who knows a little Spanish I appreciate its inclusion which gives the song a higher lyrical quality. L'Via L'Viaquez is a track typical of The Mars Volta's style in that it's over 10 minutes long and is therefore a great example of prog rock where the increased length of the song allows the piece to vary wildly in its tone and style: a defining aspect of that genre. For newcomers to the band I recommend you begin with Deloused and go from there, I don't think it matters which order you listen to them in after that but I feel that Deloused is definitely a good introductory album to their music.

In terms of raw skill they're phenomenal. This is evident in the frequent changes of style and timing during songs which many bands would struggle to pull off, especially live. When listening to their music you get a sense of this and it demands a great respect for their work. Whether or not you like their music, which I definitely do, you should be able to see the skill with which their work is infused and appreciate them for that.

As a live act they're amazing. I say this about a lot of bands, I realise this, but there's something that sets The Mars Volta apart from other bands I've seen. The best word I can think of to describe the atmosphere of their live set is "captivating". The music just takes up all your attention until your just standing their in awe of their talent. When I caught them at Sonisphere 2011, when they headlined the second stage on the Saturday, I didn't see anyone moshing or even moving very much, everyone was just absorbed in their performance. Also the singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, was entertaining just to watch. He was full of energy and ran around the stage causing havoc. At one point he shoved a kettle and other equipment onto the floor (the former broke), but this was nothing compared to when he picked up one of the metal barriers from the side of the stage and threw it towards the crowd. Obviously it didn't reach the crowd, it went just off the stage, but it was still absolutely hilarious. A fantastic live band.

By Clownhouse III [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clownhousethethird/2676735835/sizes/l/


This band are popular amongst fans of similar progressive rock/metal and I'd say that people who like Dream Theater would like them. However it was obvious from their Sonisphere performance that they are very appreciated by fans of Tool. This doesn't surprise me in the least; the two bands are similar in style although Tool are darker and more metally.

So there you have it. I think The Mars Volta are at the forefront of their genre and are popular amongst the musical circles they inhabit. Still they are under appreciated and I urge you to check them out.