Amputechture review
Posted on 17th Sep 06 by Contributor | 
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Artist: The Mars VoltaAuthor: Susan Kealy Amputechture " The Mars Volta I first found this Spanish"influenced band while babysitting" a few moons ago. I was flicking through channels as she was sound asleep upstairs" and caught a glance of the video for "The Widow". You"d swear it was a White Stripes video with the only [...]
Artist: The Mars Volta
Author: Susan Kealy
Amputechture " The Mars Volta
I first found this Spanish"influenced band while babysitting" a few moons ago. I was flicking through channels as she was sound asleep upstairs" and caught a glance of the video for "The Widow". You"d swear it was a White Stripes video with the only colours being black" white and red" but you"ll be shot in the right direction with the music. The next day" I bought the album "Frances the Mute" "with the babysitting money". The guy behind the desk enthusiastically commented that they were releasing a new album in September. I was bloody well excited to have "Amputechture"" The Mars Volta"s latest project in my hands a few months later" fresh off the recommended shelf.
The album swims off to a start with Vicarious Atonement" oozing with guitar riffs in the first minute of this 7 minute song. "There are only 8 songs" but they are all in the range of 4 to 16 minutes" so you get your money"s worth of course." A sly voice floats in unison with the guitars" and then slowly begins to dominate the song later on. You can see why this duo is starting to take over the music world" this album seems a little bit more likable then their last which was great none the less. There was a lot of abstract thinking and paddling in unknown waters back then" but now the guys seems to have found their feet.
Omar Rodriguez"Lopez and Cedric Bixler"Zavala" The group"s founders" still have their signature" a beautifully haunting but heavy sound. However it may develop" it will still be looming over each song that is produced under eyes of The Mars Volta.
Tetragrammaton seems to pulse with too many different ideas" you"d wonder if they took 6 shorts songs and sewed them together to make something of a Frankenstein.
But the rest of the album is overly pleasing" Asilos Magadalena with it"s Spanish guitars" is something you feel you need to listen to a few times. It"s sung in the group"s preferred language" making it even that more mysterious.
Viscera Eyes surprisingly comes in with intended static" but what puts you at ease that your computer hasn"t gone caput is the edgy and attention"grabbing music that beats in. Bixler"Zavala really does have a very crisp vocal arrangement in this. This is the moment you start to wonder where they got the idea for the sleeve artwork" it doesn"t exactly fall in line with the mu"zac. This band is still trying to figure out why they"re popular" but it was obvious to a few from the start. Their first full length" De"Loused In The Comatorium was produced by the one and only Rick Rubin" and they have gained some famous fans in their gathering fan base as well since then.
The Mars Volta aren"t going to be leaving soon" so you better start listening up now to why they"re around.