(( The Mars Volta )) : Octahedron

logancircle · Post by **logancircle** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 6:54 am

I snagged this record because I remembered liking Deloused and threw it onto ye olde iPod on my "Math" playlist. However, I'd somehow sorted the songs to play from last to first, and I was baffled. I was thinking, Wow, this is ballsy, but it's gonna piss off a lot of prog fans. Then I listened to it correctly and the flow was better, but still much less proggy than Deloused. I love that they used flanger on lead vocals, and I love the dark moodiness and sci-fi feel of some of it. Thoughts?

DJ_LBP · Post by **DJ_LBP** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:05 pm

I like it a lot, but it took more than one listen. It's dense like all the other records, but maybe not as rocking as the other albums, but still really good.

A co-worker of mine can't stand it, he says it sounds like it's always about to pick up into something but never does.

logancircle · Post by **logancircle** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:44 am

DJ_LBP wrote:A co-worker of mine can't stand it, he says it sounds like it's always about to pick up into something but never does.

I feel that. I've gone back and forth a little, but I've come to see it like this:
It's not as good as 'Deloused...', but it is very good in a lot of ways, and quite worth listening to occasionally for that moody, hyper-dystopian pseudo-prog dirge we all need now and again.

blackdiscoball · Post by **blackdiscoball** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:41 am

I absolutly LOVE Bedlem in Golith and so this was a big change of pace. Im growing to love it more and more as I listen to it but its just such a different sound for them. I don't know if its a flanger your talking about but they use a lot of leslie on his vocals. But agreed, good listen. I love hearing some acoustic guitar as well.

blackdiscoball · Post by **blackdiscoball** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:48 am

I absolutly LOVE Bedlem in Golith and so this was a big change of pace. Im growing to love it more and more as I listen to it but its just such a different sound for them. I don't know if its a flanger your talking about but they use a lot of leslie on his vocals. But agreed, good listen. I love hearing some acoustic guitar as well.

logancircle · Post by **logancircle** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:55 am

I have to say I don't really buy this as a concept album. Not like it pisses me off, but they've said Octahedron is a story based on the death of a close friend, which I think can't be more than partly true. Unless the lyrics are full of inside jokes not meant to be understood by us. If there is a concept, it's diluted with vague imagery, but that's fine. It would be nice to know what he's talking about sometimes

suppositron · Post by **suppositron** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:55 am

logancircle wrote:I snagged this record because I remembered liking Deloused ...

Dude, you do realise they've released three other albums since then, right? Kinda weird you would pick this one up because of that.

I agree Deloused in the Comatorium was their best and the rest after that was so so. I like the direction they took this album. They actually tried to do something different than jamming out 12 minutes of noise. Great songs on this one.

logancircle · Post by **logancircle** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 10:18 am

Yeah, I got Deloused and liked it, and then forgot about them. Then I saw they had a new one, with several in between, and thought the juxtaposition would be cool. Do you have a favorite of the middle records?

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:23 am

Not a full Mars Volta album, but I highly recommend Omars album "Cryptonesia". It came out in spring. It has some of the guys from Hella and Omar and Cedric. Very crazy and intense stuff.

suppositron · Post by **suppositron** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:08 am

Well, I liked Francis the Mute, which is right after Deloused. That should be the next one you pick up for continuity's sake. I have Amputecture and Bedlam in Goliath and must say I like Bedlam better.

InvalidInk wrote:Not a full Mars Volta album, but I highly recommend Omars album "Cryptonesia". It came out in spring. It has some of the guys from Hella and Omar and Cedric. Very crazy and intense stuff.

I just heard a song from this the other day. Kicked ass! I gotta pick that up.

suppositron · Post by **suppositron** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:09 pm

InvalidInk wrote:Not a full Mars Volta album, but I highly recommend Omars album "Cryptonesia". It came out in spring. It has some of the guys from Hella and Omar and Cedric. Very crazy and intense stuff.

I just heard a song from this the other day. Kicked ass! I gotta pick that up.[/quote]

I'm mistaken. I heard a song of a cd called Manual Dexterity. It was like listening to drugged out salsa music.

these_go211 · Post by **these_go211** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:48 pm

francis the mute is awesome. i like some of the songs on amputecture but not all of them. and bedlam in goliath is a full on assault to the senses. i like it but need to be in a certain mood to listen to it. i think the mars volta is to be commended for being so sonically adventurous. and their live show is amazing.

DJ_LBP · Post by **DJ_LBP** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:46 pm

I go back and forth between Deloused and Francis the Mute being my favorite full albums, but I like some single songs on Amputechture as much as anything they've ever done. I have a few Omar solo albums as well, and I really like them a lot. Some of them have moments that just sound like outtakes from Volta jams, but there is a lot of fun stuff. There's a never-ending stream of music from these guys.

suppositron · Post by **suppositron** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:59 am

these_go211 wrote:francis the mute is awesome. i like some of the songs on amputecture but not all of them. and bedlam in goliath is a full on assault to the senses. i like it but need to be in a certain mood to listen to it. i think the mars volta is to be commended for being so sonically adventurous. and their live show is amazing.

I've seen them twice and they did a pretty damn good job both times. The only problem I had, and I see myself as being open minded to music, was they jammed out some sections way too long. It was like every song was 20 min long. It felt difficult paying attention and being into the song for that long. They knew what they were doing and everyone in that band is amazing- but they coulda shortened the sections up a bit I thought.

boid · Post by **boid** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:54 am

volta live is crazy...they play 3hour sets...and cedric throws cymbals into the audience... that gotta hurt

i like (almost) all of omars stuff...his "solo" records are insane and there's a lot of noise in there...
mars volta albums just have better production and vocals
their albums differ vastly productionwise... octahedron is just less overpopulated with guitartracks and noise and is a little slower overall...

but you cant listen to that stuff forever...need something fluff, too^^

amputechture has some really nice guitar work
check out viscera eyes the part comming in at 1:34 and the guitar in the chorus after that.... with backwards reverb or whatever...no idea how he made it sound like that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KN87aObBOY

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