The Mars Volta: Octahedron

The prog-punks of The Mars Volta have endured more than half a decade of criticism that they make noisy, incoherent albums, so it’s refreshing that the group’s fifth full-length is tied together by silence. Well, not silence per se, but that’s how it sounds at first. Only with the speakers cranked is it clear that the opening minute and a half of Octahedron holds a low, suspense-building hum that reappears throughout. It’s easy to get numbed by The Mars Volta’s overwrought echo-chamber jamming and lyrics lifted from chemistry textbooks, but the hum serves as a reminder of why anyone likes this band in the first place: These guys know how to create, corral, then dissipate tension.