Mars Volta

The Mars Volta manage to bring a new and more bizarre meaning to the word "excess" every time they make an album. Their fourth LP, The Bedlam in Goliath, is no different. The album is so steeped in self-indulgence and masturbatory instrumental theatrics that, over the course of its far-too-long 76-minute run time, it is rendered unlistenable. The music is overstuffed by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's heavily electronic production, which layers so many careening guitar riffs and crunching, whirring synths over one another that any semblance of melody is non-existent. The songs average an absurd 6:20 length, and to even refer to these individual pieces as songs is a charitable gesture.

Despite these apparent ineptitudes, the album's failure is certainly not due to a lack of talent. Rodriguez-Lopez, who plays guitar in addition to producing, and his bandmate, singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, are both ex-members of revered punk band At the Drive-In, and Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante lends his guitar skills as well. The drummer is wunderkind Thomas Pridgen, whose fearsome and powerful drumming is easily the best thing about the album. The issue lies with the sheer absence of cohesion that is consistent throughout.

The two best "songs" on the record are the only ones that really have their own identities. "Wax Simulacra" (the second shortest, at 2:38) is a burst of sheer energy, focused and channeled by its brevity and livened by thick guitar noise. "Goliath" is the other passable piece, benefitting from turned-down production that actually allows the listener to discern the various instruments tearing up scenery. Unfortunately, the rest of the songs are torturous collisions between guitars and electronics, and the length of the album is used more for repeating the cacophony of each song over and over than for breaking new sonic ground. Bedlam would be a drastically better record if it was half as long, as there might be enough ideas on this disk to fill 38 minutes. But 76? Not even close.