Kings of “math rock”, Mars Volta continues to register on the scale of most classic rock outfits with their inimitable point of view and delivery. With Octahedron they stretch out and replace their prog rock jams with some acoustic ballads, though may have left some of the excitement of earlier albums behind. It is not unusual for them to offer up extended 8-minute workouts, however the first half of the record seems to be made of largely unmoving ambience.

Finally, though, five songs in, the heavy rock side of the Mars Volta emerges. “Cotopaxi” is a rocker that grooves along to an odd time signature as Bixler-Zavala hits the high notes. It breaks up the rest of the album nicely, even though it comes a couple of songs too late. There’s a good amount of tracks that start slowing, and grow, as is in the Volta lexicon.  “Luciforms” is the sort of apocalyptic closing jam that you expect from Mars Volta.

Still, ever since At The Driven (who, by the way, aren’t reuniting), it’s been hard not to notice what the kids are putting down. They have defined their sound, and stayed true to it, even as they probably feel the push, by much of the industry, away from conceptual albums. Octahedron is no different, but could sit well with long warm Summer nights if you let it.