Artist: THE MARS VOLTA
Album: NOCTOURNIQUET (CD)

Year: 2012
Media type: CD

The Mars Volta returns in epic and unexpected fashion with its sixth album, Noctourniquet.

While Noctourniquet was, in typical Mars Volta fashion, written by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala and produced by Rodriguez-Lopez, the 13-track album explores musical territories previously uncharted in the duo's 20 or so years of creating music together. The spectrum of musical and emotional textures conceived and created by Rodriguez-Lopez on Noctourniquet ranges from the opening bombast of "The Whip Hand" to the menacing crawl of "The Malkin Jewel" punctuated throughout by hypnotic melodies and borderline electro-ambient washes, most notably in the epic "In Absentia. "

The bold diversity of the new material combined with Rodriguez-Lopez's assured producer's hand guiding The Mars Volta's most confident and refined performances to date make Noctourniquet an early contender for this year's most challenging and rewarding listen. As with previous Mars Volta efforts, Bixler-Zavala's lyrics trace a narrative journey with a defined protagonist, this time inspired by disparate elements including '80s UK alt-rockers The Godfathers, Superman comic nemesis Solomon Grundy and the Greek myth of Hyacinthus.

TRACKLIST:

01 – The Whip Hand
02 – Aegis
03 – Dyslexicon
04 – Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound
05 – The Malkin Jewel
06 – Lapochka
07 – In Absentia
08 – Imago
09 – Molochwalker
10 – Trinkets Pale of Moon
11 – Vedamalady
12 – Noctourniquet
13 – Zed and Two Naughts