Artist: THE MARS VOLTA
Album: NOCTOURNIQUET VINYL REISSUE (2LP BLACK)

Release date: 30.01.2026
EAN/UPS: 4250795602514
Media type: LP

When Solomon Grundy was buried on a Sunday, that was the end of him – but it marked the beginning of The Mars Volta's Noctourniquet, which was inspired by the Solomon Grundy nursery rhyme and the Greek mythology surrounding Hyacinthus. The concept album was a first for new explorations, but it was also the last album for The Mars Volta.

After Octahedron, The Mars Volta appeared to fall silent, but behind the scenes Omar Rodríguez-López kept creating at pace. His solo work expanded rapidly, often moving far beyond the band’s usual boundaries. As ever, he played new material to Cedric Bixler-Zavala first, and one set of tracks — recorded with drummer Deantoni Parks, whose volatile rhythmic approach had quickly become a favourite foil — stood out as the foundation for a new chapter of the group.

These recordings shared Octahedron’s directness but skewed darker, steeped in synthesiser-led menace. Cedric began shaping lyrics in 2009, yet no new Mars Volta music surfaced until a run of 2011 shows, performed as The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group, where the songs that became Noctourniquet finally emerged.

LP1 - Side A
A1 The Whip Hand 
A2 Aegis 
A3 Dyslexicon 

LP1 - Side B
B1 Empty Vessels Make The Loudest Sound 
B2 The Malkin Jewel
B3 Lapochka 

LP2 - Side C
C1 In Absentia
C2 Imago 
C3 Molochwalker
C4 Trinkets Pale Of Moon

LP2 - Side D
D1 Vedamalady
D2 Noctourniquet
D3 Zed And Two Naughts