Listening to it now so figured I'd do a track by track
1. The Whip Hand - They start the album with the most experimental track(it's TMV would you expect less
) very "niorish" vibe, Cedric is in top form here and the song goes through 3-4 total shifts in vibe and production before it ends.
2.Aegis - A More traditional TMV track, but makes it very clear that it's a new day in their world. Omar seems to be sitting back and letting the rest of the band make the song what it is.
3.Dyslexicon - this one starts with heavy electronics but the band slowly makes their presence known, all the while Cedric is tearing it up
4. Empty Vessels Make The Loudest Sound - Very Dynamic track, lots of ebbing and flowing with a nice buildup into a guitar solo at the end, definitely Omar's shining moment on the album(as far as his guitar work goes)
5.the Malkin Jewel - this is one extremely creepy track, starts very disjointed and dissonant but gives way to an almost heavy mellowness at the middle point. This one is definitely a grower.
6.Lapochka - Quite possibly the most ATDI sounding Mars Volta track ever(at least as far as the song itself, the arrangement-not so much) , pretty straight-forward song structure and no vocal acrobatics, lots of electronics and drum flourishes fill out the sound of the track.
7.In Absentia - Almost industrial in its rhythms and production, the overall sound of the track is distant but Cedric's vocals shine through towards the end, almost like the sun shining through the clouds after a tornado. mostly lacks the latin influences TMV are known for.
8. Imago - Another relatively straight forward semi-mellow track with the drums and electronics adding most of the decoration.
9. Molochwalker - The most traditional Mars Volta track on the album, but even here there are more electronics than in the past. Again it feels like Omar is trying to stand back and let the band do the heavy lifting.
10. Trinkets Pale of Moon - A semi-acoustic ballad with lots of samples and found sounds added in for mood. The track starts with the sounds of a middle-eastern market in the background and slowly adds in random noises until the guitar is buried under their weight for a few moments then they recede letting the song end in the same place it starts
11. Vedamalady - Something almost theatric about this track, lots of drama without being overbearing. It would make a great single, possibly the most accessible TMV track ever.
12. Noctourniquet - Its like they took a traditional Mars Volta song and tried to recreate it with samplers and sequencers, and the experiment really works. It's what you would expect if someone told you TMV was going to put out an electronic album.
13. Zed And Two Naughts - A nice way to close the album, experimental but not too much, a nice blend of their old&new styles.
Overall I'm very pleased with the album, their style was starting to stagnate so I feel it was a good time to expand their sound and I'd say they did it about as perfectly as they could. It's not a total rehaul of their sound but an expansion that really opens up what they can do.