Album Review - Noctourniquet

Artist: The Mars Volta (USA)

Release Date: 23 March, 2012

I know it’s taken me a little while to write this one, but really, The Mars Volta isn’t any old band.  I find that you really need to be in the mood for them.  If you’re not in the right mind frame, they’ll probably give you a headache or a seizure.  But, if the mood does take you, they generally blow you away with their bombastic instrumental freak-outs and their weird, mystical lyrical subject matter.  There is no doubt that this band is like no other.  They are, at any given moment, progressive rock, abrasive punk, latin jazz, 1970s metal, ambient, beautiful and ugly.  Each release of theirs has contained something new for their listeners, and it’s because of this and The Mars Volta’s general complexity that I allowed this one to breathe a little while.  I wanted it to completely set in before I offered any opinion on it.  I have, in the past, changed my mind on their albums before.  Their third album, Amputechture (2006), didn’t do much for me.  I thought it was too long, too sprawling and needed the narrative glue that held their previous albums together.  Then I saw them play the Amputechture material live.  All of a sudden it made complete sense and now I love the album.  I don’t know what it was about experiencing that material live, but it certainly made it work for me in a way that it hadn’t before.  I write all of this because I want you to know how easy it is for me to change my ideas about any Mars Volta release.  Therefore, what follows below, is only my opinion at the time of writing this.  Who knows how it may change in the future.

            The first thing that struck me about this album was that it seemed to be an extension of their previous album, 2009’s Octahedron.  This album seems to be further exploring the more meditative side of The Mars Volta.  The songs are slower, shorter and there are fewer dramatic shifts in dynamics that has become the norm for their work.  Even where Octahedron had a few blasts of the old Mars Volta energy, Noctourniquet seems to be an exercise in restraint, albeit in a very Mars Volta way.  There are still odd time signatures, lyrics about strange beings that inhabit our planet with a few appearances by certain species of vermin that tend to make appearances in Mars Volta albums from time to time.  It could, perhaps justifiably, be said that Noctourniquet could have been named Octahedron II.  But, as with all things Mars Volta, it’s not quite that simple.

            What Noctourniquet does, more than any of The Mars Volta’s previous releases, is explore their electronic tendencies.  Where these flourishes have been present on their past albums, they were usually confined to the background.  They were used to colour the tracks and provide extra drama.  Essentially, you didn’t really take notice of them if you weren’t listening for them.  Here, though, these electronica moments are brought to the forefront.  On some tracks, they are now the driving force (taking over from Rodriguez-Lopez’s guitar), particularly on opening track, The Whip Hand.  The sound may be produced by guitar (as it is live), but there is no doubt that it leans more towards electronic music than it does traditional rock.  It is as though Mars Volta have placed this track first in order to make a specific statement.  They are at a point where their ‘different’ sound has become the norm for them.  They are, therefore, exploring new territory.  They are a band that has always looked ahead and have never repeated themselves.  They created a new style all on their own and now that fans have come to expect that style, they are changing it up.  It will be the point that fans will ultimately judge the album by.  Some want The Mars Volta to release nothing but De-Loused In The Comatorium (2003) and/or Frances The Mute (2005) copies.  Others will want The Mars Volta to continue pushing in a direction that is wholly their own, but maybe not this direction.  Some will love what they are doing will Noctourniquet.

            Another note about what makes this album different from anything the band has done before is the drumming.  For the first time I found myself having to listen for the drums in a Mars Volta release.  That’s not to say that the drums are criminally low in the mix or anything.  It’s just that, after the powerhouse styles of previous drummers, Jon Theodore (still the best drummer they’ve had in my opinion) and Thomas Pridgen, new skinsman, Deantoni Parks, displays a much more subtle technique.  There’s no doubt that he’s every bit as skilled (maybe even more so) than previous drummers, but he chooses not to be the focus here.  Perhaps this is because he has more of a background in jazz than the others.  By no means is this a bad thing, it’s just different.  Instead of having a thunderous fill punch you in the face (thank you Mr. Pridgen) or a beat appearing to be played with seventeen arms (thank you Mr. Theodore), we have subtle ghost notes, minimalistic patterns and intricate hi-hat work.  It will certainly be interesting to see how long Praks remains in the band, given their perceived rotating drummer policy, and what he does on future Mars Volta albums, particularly if the band decide to play loud again.

            Like Octahedron though, Noctourniquet’s star is vocalist, Cedric Bixler-Zavala.  His melodies often save the day on this album and make what could have been several bizarre noise pieces, delicate tracks with some humanity attached to them.  He still sings about stuff that only he can relate to, but he is the human link here.  To me, it seems as though Rodriguez-Lopez is now at a point where he’s putting music together for the specific purpose of challenging Bixler-Zavala.  It’s like he keeps throwing him tracks and saying, “Here you go, make this sound good.”  And for the most part, Bixler-Zavala succeeds.  There are moments on this album, with its electronic passages, that demonstrate that Massive Attack might want to tap Bixler-Zavala on the shoulder about being the latest addition to their ever expanding catalogue of guest vocalists (personally, I would love to hear it).

            I think the only real downfall of this album is its length.  Not in terms of time, but in terms of tracks.  At thirteen tracks, it is the longest Mars Volta album (Frances The Mute is actually their longest album in terms of time, but is the shortest in terms of tracks, it has five).  There is an argument that towards the end, things tend to drag on a bit, and for me, this is the case.  Had they culled two or three tracks, I think I would enjoy this album much more.  Things tend to become a bit same-y with tracks appearing to bleed into one another (particularly on the acoustic numbers), creating a plodding, limping-to-the-finish-line kind of vibe.  It’s a closing half that doesn’t really make me want to put it on again immediately.

            For me though, the highlight of the album is Noctourniquet’s centrepiece, In Absentia.  After five minutes of odd sounds and unusually (for this album) difficult to decipher vocals, the track opens right up into an outro that just might be one of the best things The Mars Volta have ever recorded.  Some may argue that the preceding five minutes are pointless, but to me, the outro wouldn’t have been as affective had it not had the build up and the, “What is going on here?” tone that the first section provides.  It is such a highlight though, that it makes much of what follows feel week.  As mentioned earlier, things go a little downhill from here and don’t quite recover.

            All in all, Noctourniquet is like any other Mars Volta album.  The die-hards will love it, the people who want another Deloused or Frances will hate it, some who want Mars Volta to continue to push boundaries might not like the specific boundaries the band is pushing here, and fans who are up and down with the band will love (or hate) it now only to change their opinion and hate (or love) it later.  And everyone else will wonder what all the noise is.