History Music / TheMarsVolta

Despite this, the band remained inactive for quite some time; Rodríguez-López [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190401010031/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/omar-rodriguez-lopez-on-epic-solo-album-series-new-at-the-drive-in-lp-166438/page=5 indicated]] in 2016 that he intended for a reunion to happen, but it seemed to be mainly a matter of scheduling as to when (he wished for founding members Eva Gardner and Jon Theodore to be involved). Bixler-Zavala also indicated on Website/{{Twitter}} in February 2018 that a reunion [[https://twitter.com/cedricbixler_/status/962120912844681216 will occur]], though he later [[https://twitter.com/cedricbixler_/status/962820868744216576 clarified]] that it wouldn't be immediate. In May 2019, he [[https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/05/the-mars-volta-reunion/ confirmed]] that the band were in the studio. In June 2022, they released their first new track since ''Noctourniquet'', the eleven-minute "[[https://youtu.be/rYAR6bpf85Q Blacklight Shine]]".

* Juan Alderete: electric bass
* Deantoni Parks: drums

* Lars Stalfors: sound manipulation, keyboards

* Eva Gardner: bass

*** From their core studio discography, also topping the 10-minute mark are "Cicatriz ESP" (12:29), "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus" (13:02), "L'Via L'Viaquez" (12:21), "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" (13:09), "Frances the Mute" (14:36), "Tetragrammaton" (16:41), "Meccamputechture" (11:03), and "Day of the Baphomets" (11:57). They dialled this back a bit with time; none of their last three albums have any tracks above ten minutes in length, although each album has at least a few tracks that still qualify for this trope (six minutes or longer), and arguably the first two songs on ''The Bedlam in Goliath'' qualify as a single fourteen-minute composition.

Despite this, the band remained inactive for quite some time; Rodríguez-López [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190401010031/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/omar-rodriguez-lopez-on-epic-solo-album-series-new-at-the-drive-in-lp-166438/page=5 indicated]] in 2016 that he intended for a reunion to happen, but it seemed to be mainly a matter of scheduling as to when (he wished for founding members Eva Gardner and Jon Theodore to be involved). Bixler-Zavala also indicated on Website/{{Twitter}} in February 2018 that a reunion [[https://twitter.com/cedricbixler_/status/962120912844681216 will occur]], though he later [[https://twitter.com/cedricbixler_/status/962820868744216576 clarified]] that it wouldn't be immediate. In May 2019, he [[https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/05/the-mars-volta-reunion/ confirmed]] that the band were in the studio.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Their genre is hard to define, and has elements of Prog, Post-hardcore, Latin, and Electronic, amongst others. They are most frequently classified as ProgressiveRock, but even though this trope is frequently considered a necessary component of prog, it doesn't feel like an adequate descriptor.
* NewSoundAlbum: Even taking all the GenreBusting and NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly elements of their sound into account, each of their releases do have distinct, unique FEELS to them and a primary genre inspiration that comes through more than the rest.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Try telling anyone the names Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López are dull-sounding. Also, Cerpin Taxt and Vismund Cygnus.

* WidgetSeries: They're a weird Mexican-American thing.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: They can vary from anywhere from a 1 (most of "Televators" apart from the ending and the chorus, parts of "Miranda, That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore") to about an 8 (the heaviest parts of songs like "Aberinkula" and "Day of the Baphomets"). Asking "Are the Mars Volta a metal band?" at the right forum might be a good way to start a twenty-page argument; a number of reviewers have categorised them as such, but most metal sites don't actually have them listed in their archives (though a few, such as [[http://www.metalstorm.net/bands/band.php?band_id=3803 Metal Storm]], have pages for them). Overall, they're probably comparable to Music/{{Rush}} in that, at their heaviest, they might as well be metal, and they definitely have a lot of riffs that wouldn't feel out of place in metal songs, but they also have enough softer moments that most people probably wouldn't categorise them as metal ''overall''. (''The Bedlam in Goliath'' is probably the closest they came to making a full-on metal album, but even then, it's debatable whether it qualifies.) Prog Archives, for whatever that's worth, has them categorised as "Heavy Prog", which is pretty much the step between normal ProgressiveRock and ProgressiveMetal.

*** From their core studio discography, also topping the 10-minute mark are "Cicatriz ESP" (12:29), "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus" (13:02), "L'Via L'Viaquez" (12:21), "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" (13:09), "Frances the Mute" (14:36), "Tetragrammaton" (16:41), "Meccamputechture" (11:03), and "Day of the Baphomets" (11:57).

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: Every transition on ''Frances the Mute'' except the last one, which uses SiameseTwinSongs instead.
** All but a few song transitions on most of their albums qualify, really.

** [[EnforcedTrope Enforced]] with "Cassandra Gemini" on ''Frances the Mute.'' Each track past is a segment of the song - it was broken up into parts so it would be sold as an album (and not an EP) by the label.

** They have many very lengthy songs, but their longest studio track by far is "Cassandra Gemini" from ''Frances the Mute'', which runs for 32:32 in its intended single-track format. (Many digital releases chop it into eight tracks, entirely arbitrarily - the band lists five movements for it in the album booklet, although it's not actually clear where these are intended to begin and end).
** Also notable because many of the musical themes of "Cassandra Gemini" were taken from live jams done in the middle of their previous longest song from ''De-Loused in the Comatorium'', "Cicatriz ESP", which could extend its length from 12 minutes on the album (buffered by an ambient section in the middle) to as many as 40 minutes (all music). A live version of one of these performances is available on ''Scabdates'', although it also has eight minutes of MindScrew-inducing ambience (and snippets of several other Mars Volta songs) inserted into the middle for some reason.
** A few other musical themes from "Cassandra" can be found in the unreleased song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHyzk73AtTc&t=2466s Obelisk]]" (performed at Maida Vale in 2003), which went on for nearly 36 (and, in the Maida Vale performance, also [[FadingIntoTheNextSong was part of a seamless suite]] consisting of a 10-minute "Eriatarka", "Obelisk", and a 25-minute "Cicatriz ESP" - in other words, nearly 70 minutes of continuous music). Many of the themes from "Obelisk" weren't ever reused, though.
** This isn't all, by the way - perhaps most notably, "Drunkship of Lanterns" was known to reach as long as 34 minutes in live performances (e.g., the May 1, 2005, performance in Philadelphia).
** And that's not even getting into the song they improvised at the KROQ Weenie Roast in 2005, "[[RefugeInAudacity Abortion: The Other White Meat]]", which ran for some 50 minutes.

** A few other musical themes from "Cassandra" can be found in the unreleased song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHyzk73AtTc&t=2466s Obelisk]]" (performed at Maida Vale in 2003), which went on for nearly 36 (and, in the Maida Vale performance, also [[FadingIntoTheNextSong led seamlessly]] into a 25-minute performance of "Cicatriz", making for an hourlong suite of continuous music). Many of the themes from "Obelisk" weren't ever reused, though.

** ''Frances the Mute'': Based on a diary found by the band's late audio manipulator, Jeremy Ward, in the backseat of a car in his days as a repo man. The journal described a man's search for his biological parents. The names of those who led him to his parents were altered to create the titles of the songs. In the album's story, Vismund Cygnus goes searching for his mother Frances. [[spoiler:Turns out Cygnus and the people he spoke to were split personalities of Frances' that came about after she was raped by priests, hence every character's aversion to the church and why Frances went mute; she (or her personality Cassandra) ends up killing the priests at the end of the narrative.]]

* EpicRocking: They have some pretty lengthy songs, but topping them all is the 32-minute "Cassandra Gemini" from ''Frances the Mute''. Also notable because many of its musical themes were taken from live jams done in the middle of their previous longest song from ''De-Loused in the Comatorium'', "Cicatriz ESP", which would extend its length from 12 minutes (buffered by an ambient section in the middle) to 40+ minutes (all music). A live version of one of these performances is available on ''Scabdates'', although it also has eight minutes of MindScrew-inducing ambience inserted into the middle for some reason. This isn't all, by the way - perhaps most notably, "Drunkship of Lanterns" was known to reach as long as 34 minutes in live performances (e.g., the May 1, 2005, performance in Philadelphia). And that's not even getting into the song they improvised at the KROQ Weenie Roast in 2005, "[[RefugeInAudacity Abortion: The Other White Meat]]", which ran for some 50 minutes. Or the unreleased song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHyzk73AtTc&t=2466s Obelisk]]" (performed at Maida Vale in 2003), which went on for nearly 36.

* EpicRocking: They have some pretty lengthy songs, but topping them all is the 32-minute "Cassandra Gemini" from ''Frances the Mute''. Also notable because many of its musical themes were taken from live jams done in the middle of their previous longest song from ''De-Loused in the Comatorium'', "Cicatriz ESP", which would extend its length from 12 minutes (buffered by an ambient section in the middle) to 40+ minutes (all music). A live version of one of these performances is available on ''Scabdates'', although it also has eight minutes of MindScrew-inducing ambience inserted into the middle for some reason. This isn't all, by the way - perhaps most notably, "Drunkship of Lanterns" was known to reach as long as 34 minutes in live performances (e.g., the May 1, 2005, performance in Philadelphia). And that's not even getting into the song they improvised at the KROQ Weenie Roast in 2005, "[[RefugeInAudacity Abortion: The Other White Meat]]", which ran for some 50 minutes.

* LeaveTheCameraRunning: this is used throughout ''Frances the Mute'' with the endings of songs, most likely for an ambient effect. The most prominent example may be "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore", which opens with four minutes of coqui frogs singing.

* UncommonTime: As they're a ProgressiveRock group, appearances of this trope in their work are pretty much mandatory. For example, on ''The Bedlam in Goliath'', "Metatron" (5/4), "Wax Simulacra" (11/8 or [6+ 5]/8), and "Cavalettas" (11/8 or [5+ 6]/8) are a few examples, but there are usually at least a few per album.

* WordSaladTitle: Their name.
** It's apparently supposed to be indicative of them being something "revolutionary", as per a quote by Creator/FedericoFellini where he defines his personal meaning of the world "volta" as a new turn of events. They just added in the "mars" because... well, [[RuleOfCool it sounds cool]].

'''And with every body that I find, and with every Claymore that they mine, I won’t forget who I’m looking for, [[VoiceOfTheLegion OH MOTHER HELP ME I’M LOOKING FOR!]]'''

They initially entered a hiatus in late 2012, which they formally announced as a break-up on January 25, 2013. However, the band members continued to work with one another and, after a time, confirmed that they would ultimately reunite the project. Rodríguez-López and Parks went on to form a new project, Bosnian Rainbows. In addition, Rodríguez-López, Bixler-Zavala, and Hinojos' previous band, [[Music/AtTheDriveIn At the Drive-In]], has reunited; they released a new single in 2016 and a new album in 2017. As of April 2014, Rodriguez-López and Bixler-Zavala had also [[http://www.nme.com/news/the-mars-volta/76609 formed a new project entitled Antemasque]] (also featuring former Mars Volta drummer Dave Elitch and Music/RedHotChiliPeppers bassist Flea - who, for that matter, performed on several of the Mars Volta's albums).

Despite this, the band remained inactive for quite some time; Rodríguez-López [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190401010031/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/omar-rodriguez-lopez-on-epic-solo-album-series-new-at-the-drive-in-lp-166438/page=5 indicated]] in 2016 that he intended for one to happen, but it seemed to be mainly a matter of scheduling as to when (he wished for founding members Eva Gardner and Jon Theodore to be involved). Bixler-Zavala also indicated on Website/{{Twitter}} in February 2018 that a reunion [[https://twitter.com/cedricbixler_/status/962120912844681216 will occur]], though he later [[https://twitter.com/cedricbixler_/status/962820868744216576 clarified]] that it wouldn't be immediate. In May 2019, he [[https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/05/the-mars-volta-reunion/ confirmed]] that the band were in the studio.

* GratuitousLatin: The song movement "Facilis descenus Averni" translates as "The Descent into Hell Is Easy" (or, more literally, "Easy Is the Descent into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Avernus Avernus]]", although it is slightly misspelled; the correct spelling is "Facilis descensus Averno"); "Vade mecum" means "Go with Me", and is also used in English as a term for a pocket reference book or other useful object carried on one's person; "In absentia" is a legal term taken from Latin meaning "in absence" or "while absent".

* GratuitousLatin: The song movement "Facilis descenus averni" translates as "Easy Is the Descent into Hell"; "Vade mecum" means "Go with Me"; "In absentia" is a legal term taken from Latin meaning "in absence" or "while absent".

** ''The Bedlam In Goliath'' is their heaviest album, with more post-hardcore and noise rock influence, to the point that its heaviest tracks could easily classify as ProgressiveMetal, as well as having some much {{MathRock mathier songs}}.
** ''Octahedron'', in contrast, is [[LighterAndSofter MUCH lighter in general than their previous records]]. As stated below, half the songs could qualify as SurprisinglyGentleSongs, and the album has a much more chilled-out sound than the rest. Songs are shorter and tighter, as well as being less complex.

* MindScrew: Most of their lyrics and quite a bit of their music. Especially "Tetragrammaton", between the fact that it seems to become a completely different song every 3 minutes and is only bound together by the riff that BookEnds the tracks, and whatever you can make of this:

* MindScrew: Most of their lyrics and quite a bit of their music.

* LargeHam: Cedric Bixler Zavala is one of the hammiest vocalists in progressive rock, a genre ''full'' of large hams - [[TropesAreTools not that]] [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic anyone's complaining]]. If a song has an epic chorus, it's probably because Cedric is chewing the scenery throughout it.

* RunningGag: Cedric had a habit of announcing that they were some other band at the beginning or end of a performance, including Music/MotleyCrue, Music/{{Mudvayne}}, Razorlight, and others.

They initially entered a hiatus in late 2012, which they formally announced as a break-up on January 25, 2013. However, the band members have continued to work with one another and have ultimately confirmed that they will ultimately reunite the project. Rodríguez-López and Parks went on to form a new project, Bosnian Rainbows. In addition, Rodríguez-López, Bixler-Zavala, and Hinojos' previous band, [[Music/AtTheDriveIn At the Drive-In]], has reunited; they released a new single in 2016 and have a new album projected for 2017. As of April 2014, Rodriguez-López and Bixler-Zavala had also [[http://www.nme.com/news/the-mars-volta/76609 formed a new project entitled Antemasque]] (also featuring former Mars Volta drummer Dave Elitch and Music/RedHotChiliPeppers bassist Flea - who, for that matter, performed on several of the Mars Volta's albums).