It quickly becomes clear that Noctourniquet is a different album for The Mars Volta, but it’s not immediately obvious what has changed or in which direction they are heading. The band would probably be quite happy to hear that, as these guys like very much to test their listeners.

That said, played alongside their past work, the songs on Noctourniquet are actually a lot easier to imagine on the radio. The tortured and disjointed guitar work which normally makes up such a large part of their sound takes a bit of a backseat here, with a greater emphasis on electronic elements and keyboards. It’s not a radical departure by any means, but a measured and subtle shift.

The album’s first act seems to have something to prove, with opener ‘The Whip Hand’ showcasing an intentionally stuttering beat, as if challenging the listener to find its rhythm. Strange time signatures are nothing new for The Mars Volta, but there is an intentional ugliness here which doesn’t come across very well.

‘Aegis’ works a lot better, with a cool modal progression evoking Radiohead. Quieter moments are spooky and beautiful, though as the song progresses that intricacy is overwhelmed by very typical metal drumming. It’s a shame that the louder moments and songs tend to be the weakest links here, on an album more likely to be sought out by fans of hard rock.

Noctourniquet continues to get steadily better as it goes, except that it may go on a bit too long. This is a somewhat lengthy album by industry standards, at over an hour, and it drags in a couple of spots. The Mars Volta is a band that has put out individual compositions of over 30 minutes in the past, but these are simpler songs not even attempting such grandeur.

Lyrically, it’s often hard not to think that singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala is pulling random poetical phrases out of a hat. Frequently the words seem not to make any sense at all. “Their gourds are punctured easily / Amnesia fumes in little twists of silk.” It sounds cool, but it might not actually mean anything. One might get the same impression just glancing at the titles of each song, which could have been created by a goth or emo screenname generator.

The album’s best song may be ‘In Absentia’, with a cool industrial overlay, crunchy bass, and a feeling that is simultaneously organic and cold. The vocal is underwater, the drums are a mile away, and guitars are mostly absent. It’s definitely the most atmospheric song on Noctourniquet, and a direction more of its tracks would have been well served by.

The overall feeling of the record is creepy, moody, and often a little sexy. The sounds showcased here are best when they are atmospheric, but that can get lost at times behind walls of noise. Intros and transitions sometimes have more impact than the songs they lead in to, and that leaves me to lament that those ideas were not expanded upon more often. ‘Trinkets Pale of Moon’ is an example of a track that evolves instead of throwing its prettiness into the shredder, and it’s one of the highlights as a result.

‘Vedamalady’ seems not to complain about or dwell on things the way other tracks do, but finds its closure and presents something pleasantly uplifting. It would have made a much better finale than ‘Zed And Two Naughts’, which doesn’t stand out in any way.

The balancing act between the sometimes opposing forces of guitars and electronics is very carefully executed. Though the album can be a bit cacophonous at times, the instruments do find each other, and there is usually a common direction for their frenzy. The Mars Volta is not a band that subscribes to any kind of less-is-more philosophy, always seeming to find ways to cram in more sounds and more words, which can sometimes be really interesting and effective. Here, it’s pretty hit-or-miss–but it does hit.

Prog rockers the Mars Volta will release their sixth album, titled Noctourniquet, on March 27. The album will be a concept album about a character based on the Superman villain Solomon Grundy and the Greek myth of Hyacinthus. The album will be the band’s first new album since 2009’s Octahedron, and all music was written by co-founders Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.

In related news, Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez’s former band, At the Drive-In, announced recently that it will reunite at this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival, which is to be held over two weekends this April. At the Drive-In endured an apparently nasty breakup 11 years ago, and all band members told various interviewers in the intervening years that a reunion was unlikely. But the band sent a not-so-cryptic Tweet the day before the Coachella lineup was announced that suggested the band would be getting back together. And sure enough, there they were the following day on the Coachella official lineup.

A Mars Volta song, “Zed and Two Naughts” will be featured on the new baseball video game, “MLB 12: The Show.” That song also is listed on a tracklist of the new album posted at RollingStone.com. According to a press release, the new album will, “trace a narrative journey with a defined protagonist, this time inspired by disparate elements including 1980s U.K. alt-rockers The Godfathers, Superman comic nemesis Solomon Grundy and the Greek myth of Hyacinthus.

The Mars Volta formed the same year At the Drive-In broke up. While Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez worked on this new project, the remaining members of At the Drive-In went on to form Sparta. The Mars Volta released their first EP, Tremulant, in 2001, and went on to record debut album De-Loused in the Comatorium with legendary producer Rick Rubin.

The Mars Volta, progressive alternative rockers, just as their tour is about to kick off has expanded their headlining US outing backing “Octahedron,” their newly released album.

The Mexico based, Texas born group will start their summer and fall tour on August 29, appearing at Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco, followed by several stops on the West Coast before they head east. Seven shows at last check have been added. These include shows in Toronto on October 4, in Montreal on October 5, and three East Coast shows.

“Octahedron” was released in June. It is the fifth studio album for the band and debuted on Bilboard’s 200 at No. 12. The new album follows “Bedlam in Goliath,” their album from last year which featured the single “Wax Simulacra,” which won a Grammy award.

Before the new album was recorded last year, Omar Rodriquez-Lopez, frontman for The Mars Volta, pared down the band to a line up of six. He relieved Paul Hinojos, guitarists, as well as Adrian Terrazas-Gonzalez, saxophonist and percussionist, from their duties with the band, according to the website for The Mars Volta.

2010 Mars Volta Concert Tour
August 2009
29 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Festival
30 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium

September 2009
1 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
2 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
4 – San Diego, CA – SOMA San Diego
5 – Phoenix, AZ – Dodge Theatre
7 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
8 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
10 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
11 – Chicago, IL – Congress Theater
13 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
14 – Kansas City, MO – Midland Theatre
16 – Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom
17 – Houston, TX – Verizon Wireless Theater
19 – San Antonio, TX – San Antonio Municipal Auditorium

October 2009
4 – Toronto, Ontario – Kool Haus
5 – Montreal, Quebec – Metropolis
8 – New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom
10 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
11 – Baltimore, MD – Sonar