Octahedron

'octahedron' is the stunning new album from the mars volta. an album heady with the emotion and high-drama that has always been the band's trademark, their newfound simplicity and focus has delivered some of the most immediate and powerful songs in their discography. the album opens with the tender ache of 'since we've been wrong,' cedric's keening vocal establishing a mood that's deeply blue, powerfully melancholic, a suckerpunch that hits every bit as hard as octahedron's unashamed rockers (the gleaming futuristic funk of 'teflon,' the tense chase-music of 'cotopaxi'). pulling back from the full-tilt experimentation of previous releases, the album invests its energies in omar's gift for songcraft, for swooning guitar runs of high tension and emotive power ('luciforms' epic riffage), and for the nagging hooks and melodies that wreath the churning rhythms of 'desperate graves.'