Noctourniquet

Power and passion haven't sounded this vibrant in a while.

This new collection is most certainly not a pinnacle for the group, but it is a welcome rekindling of the same spirit and sonic magnitude that fueled their last undisputed gem, 2005′s Frances the Mute.

This is a powerful reminder of the pair's quite brilliant lunacy.

For those who respect The Mars Volta for continuing to evolve after all these years, their latest offering will continue to inspire hope in the band's future.

There's no doubt 'Nocturniquet' is amongst the band's best work, and sufficiently different – witness for instance the loud bass-heavy synths that pervade the heavier tracks – from their career highlights that it should satisfy all comers. It's f***ing brilliant, and that's really all there is to it.

The way it continues to go to the extreme within more conventional confines seems to have extracted both more emotional engagement as well as energy from The Mars Volta.

Noctourniquet still packs enough sonic buzz saws to liquefy an ox.

It's a mess--not without some tidy bits--but what's better: these songs could be the death throes, finally, of these guys' unfettered id.

Even album highlights "The Malkin Jewel" and the almost serene "Vedamalady" aren't likely to do much more than appease the group's most ardent fans. [No.86, p.60]

While Noctourniquet sits at the more accessible end of their sonic spectrum, it still walks a fine line between visionary and indulgent with no little skill. [Apr 2012, p.105]

Assured and challenging. Unlikely to convert the uninitiated, it will thrill the Volta Nation. [May 2012, p.92]

For those with the stamina, it's tremendous.

Noctourniquet's greatest strength--or, to hardcore prog-trolls, its unforgivable weakness--lies with its melodies.

Noctourniquet, while not completely successful, finds The Mars Volta at their most pop and their most reasonable.

Noctourniquet is not the band's best effort, but it is pleasing and interesting.

Noctourniquet has everything that makes the Mars Volta one of prog's most important acts, and more importantly it cuts away much of the dead weight that dragged prior releases down.

There are so many ideas battling it out here it takes numerous listens to make sense of it, but persevere and this is perhaps their strongest set to date. [Apr 2012, p.101]

Some songs explore emulsive alienation (see "In Absentia"), but TMV are at their best dabbling in shades of aggro.

Taken as an hourlong whole, though, Noctourniquet really does feel like the band's most accessible effort in years.

The fresh focus on organic songwriting and sturdier, more evocative melodies renders Noctourniquet a welcome oddity in The Mars Volta's catalog: a work that shoots not for perfection, but for balance.

In a sense, the veil is lifted ever-so-slightly with this new [album]: although they still wump you with weird on sonic gauntlets like "Molochwalker" and the title track, they also hit on some great choruses and comprehensible songcraft that, unlike most of their earlier work, is commendable for something other than the effort it took to create it.

Their narratives have been stronger before, but 'Noctourniquet' remains abject absurdity masquerading as sexy heroism.

Absurd lyrics still abound ("Your colour seems to flower from your hissing tongue, your livery of siblings cut from saffron cloth") but whatever your view on prog rock, this is an unexpected treat.