Review: Mars Volta’s “The Bedlam in Goliath”
A Mars Volta album inspired a cursed Ouiji-style talking board purchased in Jerusalem called “The Soothsayer,” which told a tale of a love triangle between a woman, her daughter, and a man, all through the voice of their collective spirit, “Goliath”. Yeah, that sounds about right.
The bands fourth studio release, The Bedlam in Goliath, makes the mistake of starting off on the wrong foot - the first three tracks are so-so concoctions of standard Mars Volta rhythms slapped together at feverish paces, with a few instances of brilliant riffs here and there. They finally get their formula right on the single, “Wax Simulacra,” a 2:40 face-melter in which The Mars Volta’s latest addition, drummer Thomas Pidgen, states his case for being in the band with a non-stop barrage of thunderous fills. They keep the momentum going with “Goliath,” supported by a hip-hop groove guitar riff reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine.
Then comes the classic Mars Volta what-the-hell-just-happened moment, “Tourniquet Man.” It’s a power ballad. No, I’m not joking. Towards the end, the Volta pull out two new tricks up their sleeve: tons of terrifying vocal effects (phasers and flangers and who knows what else) and a flute. Better tricks than the garbled, frantic, noteless saxophone solos they kept using on Amputechture.
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