In my review of The Mars Volta's De-Loused in the Comatorium I stated that I consider them to be a relatively inconsistent band, releasing a terrific album only to leave me mildly disappointed with the next one. This was especially the case with 2009's follow up to the terrific The Bedlam in Goliath, Octahedron, which, while being far from bad, left me rather cold. It saw them stripping down and streamlining their sound, with more emphasis on acoustics and electronica while downgrading the rampage of jazz-breaks and spastic guitarwork. This change in sound was refreshing but I felt that the songwriting wasn't up to par. Nevertheless I was excited when a new album was announced for they still were one of my favourite bands. I was curious what they'd come up with next because when it comes to The Mars Volta there are very few certainties. The only thing you know for sure is that the next album is going to be different compared to the one before (which doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be an improvement). Another reason why I was eager to get my hands on this is because this was supposedly going to be more of a band effort instead of Omar writing all the music and then giving his minions instructions on how to do things during the recording process. There's no question that the rest of the band are incredibly talented musicians so who knows what they could bring to the table? With all that in mind, how did this turn out?

I wasn't all that surprised when I found out that this wasn't all that much of a band effort after all, with Omar still being credited for writing all of the music and telling almost everyone what to do with it. Now, notice that I wrote almost everyone. One person that got the freedom to come up with his own ideas was vocalist Cedric. Given The Mars Volta's eccentric and explorative nature you'd expect Cedric to take advantage of the situation and cram every song with at least ten vocal ideas. Surprisingly this is not the case. On the contrary, his vocals are more melodic than before, even gentle at times, the album a showcase of his versatility. And musically the album seems to follow suit, with Omar showing an unprecedented amount of restraint in his guitarwork, often taking a backseat to the electronica which has become a major part of their sound since Octahedron, rarely lashing out the way he used to.

Noctourniquet builds on the sound introduced on Octahedron and luckily the songwriting has been upgraded as well. Opener The Whip Hand welcomes you with the aforementioned restrained vocals and guitarwork during the verses that lead up to an outburst of electronica during the chorus. On top of that you get the terrific De-Loused-esque "I'm a landmine!" break which makes it an early highlight of the album. This is followed by Aegis, once again with Cedric singing more melodically than ever, backed by wonderful percussion. Despite seeming more controlled than ever, The Mars Volta can still be quite explosive when they want to. Take Dyslexicon for example, with its darker and abstruse vibe and an energetic chorus that reminds of The Mars Volta of old, yet more reticent. There's room for slower, more ballad-like songs as well, making up for some of the best material on the album. Empty Vessels Make the Most Sound features what could be Cedric's most honest lyrics ever, a song that wrap itself around your gut and doesn't let go for its near seven minutes of playtime. This track, as well as Trinkets Pale of Moon are already on my list of all time favourite The Mars Volta songs.

Despite being a definite step up from Octahedron this isn't a complete homerun. The album lasts more than an hour (nothing exceptional for The Mars Volta) and while I welcome the idea of getting as much music as possible for the price of an album, an hour is a bit too long when not all of the material manages to keep your interest. Songs such as the title track and Zed and Two Naughts, while being far from bad, do feel a bit like filler to me and in my opinion the album would be stronger without them. And as a fanboy of De-Loused I can't help but long for a bit more franticness here and there.With that being said this is a vast improvement from Octahedron. I doubt this will become anyone's favourite in the band's discography, instead it's just a great album with the band (well, Omar and Cedric) doing just what they want to do. And I wouldn't want it any other way. This leaves us, once again with the question where they'll go next. With Omar having said that the next album will be a true band effort (we'll see about that) one can only wonder.