Mars Volta/Tremulant
The Mars Volta is the more radio-friendly of the two ATDI spawns. …very artistic and dynamic.
About one and a half years ago, At the Drive-In released the single “One-Armed Scissor” from their last album Relationship of Command. They were dubbed “the next big thing” and not too long after that they put their band on indefinite hiatus. This left their fans disappointed and baffled, since it seemed that all their years of relentless recording and touring were just beginning to
really pay off.
The former members have since then formed the bands Sparta (which includes Jim Ward, Paul Hinojos, and Tony Hajjar) and the Mars Volta (which includes Omar and Cedric).
This review is sort of a double whammy where you get two reviews for the price of one: Tremulant by The Mars Volta and Austere by Sparta. The double review is because both bands only have an EP out and no full-length albums yet. The only comparison that will be made with At the Drive-In is to mention that neither spawned band sounds anything like their former incarnation. The members have moved on to bigger (maybe) and (definitely) better things.
The Mars Volta is the more radio-friendly of the two ATDI spawns. There are three songs, but the CD clocks in at about twenty minutes. The songs in Tremulant are taken far and are very artistic and dynamic. The songs are pushed as far as they can go without getting too abstract. One might even say that they are the Pink Floyd of our era with their long queer phrases.
See my companion piece of the two ATDI spawns for Sparta here
The Mars Volta/Tremulant and Sparta/Austere
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