The Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full length LP from progressive rockers The Mars Volta hitting an all time high for the group, at #3 on the Billboard charts. Readers familiar with the group's catalog will not be disappointed with their most aggressive album to date. Latin-infused psychedelic textures are the Volta's signature sound. Drawing on past experiences of death and addiction for their previous records, The Bedlam in Goliath echoes a strange run in with a Ouija type game called the Soothsayer. Lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala purchased the game while on a trip through Jerusalem.

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The game has been made into an online version you can play here. If you understand this extremely weird game leave a comment, BOT would enjoy hearing your opinions. The Bedlam in Goliath starts with a blaring tenor sax in the highly addictive "Aberinkula". One of my favorite aspects of this group is the way they use traditional instruments including the flute and clarinet, and then incorporate it in with such a heavy sound. "Metatron" is the second track which takes the listener through many ups and downs, with an incredible jam in the middle. "Goliath", my favorite song on the album, has been in heavy rotation during the band's live stage show (as well as on my iPod). Lucky for us, 5 of the 12 songs have been made into web videos, courtesy of The Mars Volta. Although these videos were obviously cheap to produce, they are quite entertaining. Embedding is disabled at the request of the band so you're going to have to follow the links, sorry.

"Goliath" They're not really playing their instruments, and the sound is off slightly.

"Aberinkula" This one gave me nightmares, beware.

"Wax Simulacra" Cuts back and forth between live and studio footage.

"Askepios" I want The Mars Volta at my birthday party too!

"Ilyena" Possibly the catchiest song on the album.

I really can't get enough of this album, and can listen to it front to back no problem. One song that is not featured in the web videos is the one that made this whole album possible - "Soothsayer". You can really hear the influence the Middle East had on this one, conjuring up images of dancing snakes and hookah smoke hanging in the air. The Bedlam in Goliath is probably not for first-time listeners; I recommend starting with either Francis the Mute or Scabdates (a live compilation). The band might be stepping into unknown territory soon with what they have dubbed their "acoustic album", yet to be released. If this doesn't seem like your thing, don't worry - the Mars Volta have stated numerous times they have enough material for 4-5 future albums. Hopefully I get a chance to see these fellas sometime this summer, since I can't get their damn songs out of my head.

Until next time,

Pancakes