The Mars Volta were formed in 2001 of guitarist/composerOmar and singer/lyricist Cedric. Aiming to "honor our roots and our dead," The Mars Volta made music that fused the Latin American soundsRodríguez-López had grown up with, the punk and underground noise he andBixler-Zavala had been immersed in for years, and their futuristic visions. The subsequent albums were unique masterpieces with songs of breathtaking complexity.Since their breakup in 2013, their fans waited unwaveringly for their return.
The current album The Mars Volta dispenses with some ofThe Mars Volta's long-standing characteristics and fearlessly defies all expectations and categorizations. Instead, pulses The Mars Volta with subtle brilliance, Caribbean rhythms underpinning the polished,turbulent songcraft. This is The Mars Volta at its most mature, concise and focused. The pop melodies of Rodríguez-López drive Bixler-Zavala's dark sci-fi tales of the occult and malevolent governments, which are brought into The Mars Volta channeling all their passion, poetry and rage. The album contains the most exciting and accessible music the band has ever recorded, distilling all the passion, poetry and power they have at their fingertips.