Album Review #1: The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute

Born out of the ashes of At The Drive In, The Mars Volta was formed by Omar Rodriguez & Cedric Bixler, whose creative prowess was directed towards a more exciting and different style from that of ATDI (and from the emo leanings of Sparta, which was formed by the other members of ATDI). The Mars Volta had one album (De-Loused In The Crematorium) and several singles before releasing Frances The Mute.

The album is a brilliant fusion of styles, ranging from latin metal to ambient to psychedelic rock. They are not only technically supreme to almost every other band playing today, they also play with great emotion and a feeling unlike most others.

The album begins with the mysterious and powerful track Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus, a thirteen minute sprawling epic which starts the album off perfectly, constantly changing and evolving, at times frantic and manic, and at others calm and relaxing, a showcase to how skillfully the band can change the mood and tempo without it having a detrimental effect to the track. This song is followed by the slightly weaker The Widow (which is also the shortest on the album, at only 6 minutes), a heavy ballad that after just three minutes begins a twisted descent into madness. Almost Faustish in its deconstruction, heavy amounts of distortion and effects are applied to an organ which has an eerie manic sound to it accompanied by sounds which sound like Terry Riley took acid before attempting to make A Rainbow In Curved Air. Following this is the latin-influenced L'Via L'Viaquez, a song that pops in between metal and a gentle pop song, which on the surface should be average at best, but the mad playing of Rodriguez never fails to entertain and please the ears, and it is combined perfectly with Cedric Bixler-Zavala's Robert Plant-esque vocals. The fact that Omar completely over-indulges with his solos and is vain with his playing is not negative to the music, on the contrary it adds to the aggressive and liberated style of the song. Next comes the intense and volatile Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore, which is for the first five minutes an ambient piece, which slowly allows the saxophones and acoustic guitar to creep in, followed by Zavala's softly spoken vocals. 5 minutes through you can feel the impending crescendo coming, and when it does the previously soft and sprawling sound becomes focused and purposeful, but just as soon as it has come it is taken away, becoming incoherent and shapeless as before.

The finale of the album is among the greatest tracks in rock history (in my opinion rivaling giants such as Sister Ray & Moon In June), a 32 minute suite, which is just too expansive to describe in detail, but for a brief overview, it borrows influence from Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd’s experimental stage, Faust & Soft Machine. The song is warped, hallucinogenic & chemically imbalanced behemoth, the tour de force of the album.

This for me is the best album of 2000’s and is one of the greatest of all time. I think that it is unlikely we will see another great work from The Mars Volta (not that it isn’t possible), as Frances The Mute was a one off experimental album, something which some critics (especially Pitchfork) did not like at all, and many of the more dedicated fans (who preferred the more linear work of the early career) were not impressed either. Despite this, I feel this is their supreme work, a beautiful piece of music.

Year of Release - 2005
Style - Neo Psychedelia Latin Metal ?

Track Ratings

Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus : 9.0
The Widow : 7.5
L'Via L'Viaquez : 8.0
Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore : 8.5
Cassandra Gemini : 9.5/9.75