The Mars Volta

just when you thought the mars volta couldn't be any weirder, they stoop to a new level of mind boggling inspiration for their newest album "Bedlam in Goliath". they first full length album "deloused in a commatorium" is based on their friend's dreams during a drug induced comma. Their follow up album "frances the mute" was inspired by the death of the bands sound technician, jeremy ward, after a heroin overdose. The band then wrote the album based on the characters from a diary ward had found in a car while he was a repo car salesman.

Their latest album however is based on their communications with an ancient Ouija board the band purchased in jerusalem. Lead singer Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Rodriguez-Lopez appearantly communicated with the board they named "soothsayer" and used its words directly as the basis for the lyrics to their songs. They also found poetry inside the board, which they had translated, and this too was used as insight for the albums lyrics. The band suggests their communications with the soothsayer were very spiritual, and they claim its energy almost lead to the break-up of their band collectively and individually. Omar Rodrigues-Lopez was quoted saying " it felt like i was fighting for my life, if that makes any sense, for my sanity". the band eventually destroyed the board, to end their struggle.

I find this inspiration for the album very interesting, and at first it almost made me a lil worried about listening to the album, but the band claims the album has a positive outlook on the the experience, a statement of triumph, not a statement of the evil the ouija board carried. The band even released an online game based on the soothsayer that can be played here soothsayer game
Im pretty pumped for the albums release on january 29th, hopefully its a little better than their last album amphutechture.

the song goliath can be heard below.