noctourniquet album downloaded The Mars Volta: Every album ranked from worst to best. Although The Mars Volta disbanded some 14 years ago, their entire discography has been released in a lavish 18 -LP vinyl boxset titled La Realidad de los Sueños, which chronicles the band’s six extraordinary albums in excruciating detail. And this is just the excuse we need to reappraise every album by the El Paso experimentalists. The prog rock band, led by vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López, disbanded in 2013 , when Cedric and Omar reformed their previous band At The Drive-In. Rumours persist, however, that The Mars Volta will reform or already have, with Cedric alluding to it on Twitter in 2019 . When pushed to elaborate, the vocalist suggested: ​ “ What it’s NOT going to be is your ​ ‘ fav member line-up’ playing their ​ ‘ classic records’ in full etc. Maybe we’ll play old shit, who knows how we feel.” That was two years and a global pandemic ago, though, so who knows whether their reconnection will still go beyond the caretaking of their reissues to new material and live dates. While we wait in hope, let’s return to the task of ranking the band’s albums and a piece of small print. While we’ve explored their qualities, we haven’t delved into the respective concepts, because a) they deserve expansive word counts all to themselves, b) they’re often impenetrable, and c) they don’t have a lasting role in how good the music is – who, for instance, declares: ​ ‘ I hate the album but love the concept?’ So with that clarified, let’s dive in… 6. Noctourniquet (2012) What’s the best way to rain on the parade of your new album? Back in 2012 Cedric and Omar did so by announcing the reformation of their ​ ‘ other’ band, At The Drive-In, sending fans into a frenzy that rather overshadowed the latest release from what was effectively their day job – though not for much longer. Perhaps it was all part of the plan, as Noctourniquet is the sound of The Mars Volta joining the rest of us back on Earth. Admittedly, it’s often weird and frequently all over the place, though ​ ‘ fractured’ might be more apt given its lengthy gestation following creative clashes between Cedric and Omar. Much of it is restrained by their own standards, prevented from being too expansive by its rather stifling, claustrophobic production. Meanwhile, the addition of electronics give Lapochka and Vadamalady a Zen-like sense of consideration and calm, hinting at the life the band could have had… and may one day achieve? 5. Octahedron (2009) Reviewing a Mars Volta album is evidently a tough job, as looking back over some contemporaneous examples finds writers coming away with not just markedly different opinions, but wildly conflicting observations, too. Never is that more evident than on Octahedron, a fifth album simultaneously considered wild and mellow, arcane and reflective. One point agreed on, however, and correctly so, is that it’s relatively accessible for an album named after an eight- sided geometric shape, and the first on which the band noticeably exercised some restraint. It’s their version of restraint, though, so while ballad Copernicus is a slimmed down spectacle, it glides past the seven-minute mark. And while the lyrics are more familiar, they still evade. 4. Amputechture (2006) With eight tracks clocking in at 76 minutes, album number three probably didn’t seem like it had learned any lessons from its predecessor, Frances The Mute – but that’s not the case. For all the earlier LP ’s moments of transcendental brilliance, it also mired the listener in some impenetrable passages. Amputechture is successful in its mission of delivering content that’s more killer than filler, as it is addressing another persistent complaint levelled at the band: Cedric’s lyrics. Here they follow a broad theme, the effects of religious fervour upon the world, rather than a cryptic narrative, meaning the the words are easier to get a handle on. 3. The Bedlam In Goliath (2008) Upon its release, reviews penalised this fourth album for sounding like The Mars Volta, recognising the band’s name had become polarising shorthand for innovation and indulgence alike. And while the pieces of the puzzle are all in place – the jazzy structures, the Latin rhythms – this is the record on which the ​ ‘ rock’ part of their ​ ‘ prog rock’ tag is most breathlessly executed (see opener Aberinkula for immediate evidence). It’s dizzyingly funky too, thanks to the efforts of frequent collaborator and Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante, whose guitar work with the similarly virtuosic Omar is something to behold. More importantly, whether paying attention to their listeners or, more likely, their own instincts, The Bedlam Of Goliath sounds like a band being more concise and cohesive, headed in the same direction and arriving somewhere spectacular. 2. Frances The Mute. What do you do if you’re a band with an incredibly uncommercial sound and your debut album becomes a commercial success? If you’re The Mars Volta then you push further, wider, deeper and stranger to see if those same fans follow you onwards and outwards. This follow-up was the subject of some compromise, though, with the record label balking at the original plan for it to have only five tracks, with the final two being lengthy movements. And while they were subsequently cut into smaller pieces, meaning 12 tracks overall, that formalised the scope but couldn’t contain an album bursting at the seams with creativity – for good and for bad. At its best it contains much of the band’s most hypnotically beautiful music (Cassandra Gemini) and slickest examples of genre-bending (L’Via L’Viaquez). But there’s simply too much of everything here, meaning it’s not quite the match of its perfectly pitched predecessor. And yet, somehow in the midst of this overindulgence, The Mars Volta created their most accessible song, The Widow, as a reminder that this band confounded expectations even when delivering excess. 1. De-Loused In The Comatorium (2003) While not the band’s first musical statement (that came with 2002 ’s Tremulant EP ), De-Loused In The Comatorium was the moment The Mars Volta exploded into the public consciousness. For fans of Cedric and Omar’s previous band At The Drive-In, this was a seismic shift in style. For everyone else, it was the arrival of the kind of prog band you didn’t think they made anymore, right down to the iconic cover art courtesy of Pink Floyd designer Storm Thorgerson. As with Pink Floyd, the album works as a conceptual whole, poetic in vision, powerful in execution, and dense with rhythm and styles. With so many constituent musical parts over the years, and a pretty fluid line-up of members, The Mars Volta’s chemistry was difficult to keep a handle on, but it’s clear that it was in perfect balance here. De-Loused… mixes technical virtuosity and sublime melodies in a balancing act the band arguably didn’t handle so deftly again. Noctourniquet album downloaded. Artist: The Mars Volta Album: Noctourniquet Released: 2012 Style: Progressive Rock. Format: MP3 320Kbps / FLAC. 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 14 – The Malkin Jewel (Live) DOWNLOAD LINKS: RAPIDGATOR: DOWNLOAD. 35 Responses. Rummie Said, AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S HEREEEEEEE. was not expecting that. I can’t stop listening to this! Cedric is just AWESOME! His vocals are so different! And this sounds! Never heard before, it’ a New Mars Volta sound! Thank god! That will be my only exception for Black March… ahuevo, lo sabia lo sabia. Great. Thanks a lot. holy shit… this is awesome.. Thanks a lot I just can’t stop listening to them. THANK YOU SO MUCH. este cd no tiene madre!! gracias!! File has already been deleted? What gives? um… can’t download this. thanks, but useless. you guys should use Minus or something. Argh! uploaded and filepost down, sharingzone paying. Argh. links not working at all… both uploaded and filepost.PLZZZ new links. sharingzones shit you have to pay to download tut. ok for me with uploaded! Thanks, but harder to download, links very slow or down. Great album. Thanks! Awaiting for better quality :D. sweet jesus i have a hard on now im going to jack off to this fuck yeah. Thanks! Uploaded worked for me, by the way… This .. is .. awesome :D Now gief 320 and FLAC! :D. If links r not working,try captaincrawl.com and type Mars Volta there… :) this is the best cd i’ve listened to this year, and i’ve listened to 65 cd’s… this album definitely kicks ass!! mageia! euxaristo! magic — thanx. Guess there is no sucken way to download anymore on this shit site without fucken paying. Lapochka è bellissiama. I don’t know………but now….it’s time of At The Drive In. This album is so good, it boggles my mind. Dare I say this is the best material they have ever released ? In any case, easily the best album of the year. If any band can trump this I will be amazed. THE MARS VOLTA – Noctourniquet. I’m always open and diplomatic to anything I review (no matter what my preconceptions may be), but it’s fair to say I easily fall for anything Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is attached to. Since the 2001 breakup of At the Drive-In, The Mars Volta has been my favorite band. With their sixth full-length album, Noctourniquet , The Mars Volta have made another shift in their ever-evolving sound and have put together what may be the best concept album I’ve ever heard. Concept albums are nothing new, especially to The Mars Volta. The problem with many concept works is either that they never fully tie together for the whole album, or they need expansive explanation of a back-story from the songwriters to make any sense. Noctourniquet, due out March 27, 2012, may not be that clear of a story either, but from song to song it’s a journey, for both the listener and the characters entailed. Related Posts. Through interviews and press releases, vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala has said his writing was influenced by the nursery rhyme of Solomon Grundy (a man who goes from birth to adulthood to death in seven days). The nursery rhyme was even recited in parts of live jams the band have performed. I became slightly confused when first listening to the album, as I didn’t hear the rhyme, nor did I understand what anything I was hearing has to do with Solomon Grundy. As I continued to listen it all became clear: The Mars Volta have created their own twisted fairy tale. Each song acts as new chapter/landscape. A child (who will be referred to as he/him from this point forward) moves through the expansive world as it is invaded by a cavalcade of sounds. Imagine the album’s artwork as a vast plane the protagonist is traversing — suddenly, everything is jarred as the backdrops are shredded by cutting guitar notes, and the air fills with ominous synthetic noise. In previous Volta releases, fans have been adamant that certain songs seem to interrupt the flow the albums. The changing sound-scapes of Noctourniquet can easily be pointed to as a prime example of uneven flow if the listener does not buy into the whole experience. The opening harshness and crass, overbearing style of “The Whip Hand” mimics the uncomfortable scenario the protagonist lives within. As he escapes, he becomes part of a world previously unknown. Each song adds another piece to the puzzle, as the child encounters new characters and situations. By the time the album’s single, “The Malkin Jewel,” kicks in, a new character is in pursuit of the protagonist, pushing everyone further into this maddening world as the song’s chaotic ending comes to a head. The album contains what may be the band’s most heartfelt melodies and lyrics. In past releases, Bixler-Zavala’s lyrics had always been enthralling chants of clever wordplay, and it was the music that seemed to draw the most emotional response. In songs such as “Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sounds,” Bixler-Zavala creates some of his most strikingly down-to-earth metaphors. The implication of the lyrics along with the sweet- hearted delivery speaks volumes of someone in desperate need of help. That song in particular bears a mighty resemblance to the begging want and need of the trapped souls of Genesis’s “Home by the Sea.” The album speaks of no one real or that I could ever meet, but it makes me care and want to lend a helping hand. Anyone looking for searing guitar solos and math rock progressions will be shocked when they first put this album on. When their previous album Octahedron was released, it contained the quick addition of a drum machine on one track. Further solo efforts from Omar Rodriquez-Lopez added synth to whole albums, but Noctourniquet takes the experience to a whole new level. Typically, fans were used to The Mars Volta sharing a common sound through all their albums, while Omar’s solo work took things to extremes. While the Volta sound is in no way gone, it has morphed into a new rabid animal that crosses popular genre lines. Newest addition to the group, drummer Deantoni Parks, provides a bridge from the old sound to the new with frantically precise staccato work that matches the fast drum machine feel with real world aesthetics. Radiohead has perfected the electronic sound rock movement, but Phil Selway’s drums mimic the sounds making himself even sound synthetic. Parks, however, brings a grounding sound level to the songs instead of creating one large jumble of bleeps and zooms. Nothing is permanent in Volta-land. The next release may very well be a grindcore metal album. On first listen, some people will be taken for a spin and be ready to scream and complain. Don’t let the shock affect your views on the record. Turn out the lights, lay back, put on some headphones, and allow The Mars Volta to take you somewhere I don’t think any musical artist has been able to take you before. Open your mind and pay attention — The Mars Volta have just changed the game. THE MARS VOLTA. The Mars Volta is currently sending out a second advance track from its forthcoming sixth album Noctourniquet (out March 27 on Warner Bros. Records) to those who have pre-ordered the record from themarsvolta.com. All Noctourniquet pre-orders, past and future, will now receive album closer “Zed and Two Naughts” in addition to the already delivered first single “The Malkin Jewel.” “Zed and Two Naughts” will also be available as an a la carte download on iTunes beginning March 6, along with the previously available “The Malkin Jewel.” “Zed and Two Naughts” and “The Malkin Jewel” showcase dramatically varied and contrasting extremes of a 13-track album that explores territories previously uncharted in The Mars Volta’s acclaimed and uncompromising discography. The spectrum of musical and emotional textures on Noctourniquet ranges from the opening bombast of “The Whip Hand” to “Zed and Two Naughts” grand finale, 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 Omar 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 albums, including the gold-certified De-Loused In The Comatorium and Frances The Muteand The Bedlam In Goliath (which featured Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy winner “Wax Simulacra”), Noctourniquet was written by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala and produced by Rodriguez-Lopez. Noctourniquet was performed by The Mars Volta lineup of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Juan Alderete de la Pena, Marcel Rodriguez Lopez, and Deantoni Parks. 15 Unreleased Mars Volta B-Sides Now Available For Free Download. The kind folks over at Antiquiet are reporting that a file that features 15 b-sides and unreleased demos from prog-rockers The Mars Volta has been made available for free download. The files were first brought to attention at a Mars Volta forum called The Comatorium and ultimately drew the attention of former drummer Thomas Pridgen, who confirmed that he appeared on several of the tracks. Fans of The Mars Volta are especially excited as this is the first “new” material to show up in a while and comes seven months after the group split. Meanwhile, vocalist/guitarist Cedric Bixler-Zavala is busy at work with Zavalaz while guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and drummer/keyboardist Deantoni Parks are focusing on Bosnian Rainbows . Head on below for the album download link. Got any thoughts/questions/concerns for Jonathan Barkan? Shoot him a message on Twitter or on Bloody-Disgusting ! Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting. AROUND THE WEB. Related Posts. Harajuku Girls Go Psychotic in Giraffe Tongue Orchestra’s “Blood Moon”! (Premiere) A New York City Performing Arts Center Looks Like The ‘Hellraiser’ Puzzle Box. Opeth Announces “Book of Opeth” That Comes With Two Acoustic Tracks. Music. Listen to Succumb’s Ridiculously Brutal New Single “Okeanos” While this dropped back in July, I wanted to highlight an absolutely brutal new track from Succumb that comes off their sophomore entry XXI , set for release on September 24th via San Francisco-based record label The Flenser. Succumb shares “Okeanos” , a fiery new song that highlights one of the best up-and-coming metal bands around. “Plumbing the depths of modern death metal with primitive elegance, Succumb have returned with their sophomore release XXI. What sets Succumb apart from their peers is vocalist Cheri Musrasrik ; the juxtaposition of death metal riffing and propulsive drums with Musrasrik’s cavernous howl and sophisticated lyrics make a unique listening experience in today’s crowded landscape,” hypes the press release. “Musrasrik cites authors and poets like Yeats, Genet and Zola as her primary lyrical influences. XXI sees an allegorical look at the elements and their related mythologies. Talks about Lilith, the Orphic poems, ocean and nature deities, Dionysus, Arthurian literature, fly agaric as soma, the cosmic egg, and the Boxer Rebellion. “On XXI , Succumb set out to make an album that feels more immediate & unpredictable, with a more aggressive production and the vocals much more front & center.” Pre-orders are available here and more music will surface soon from Succumb.