The Mars Volta have returned with their third album, Amputechture, and all fears that the offshoot from the break-up of At the Drive-In have stagnated is cast asunder immediately with opening track “Vicarious Atonement”.

Pushing and pulling for some seven minutes, but never exploding as it threatens to do, it leads directly into the stunning sixteen-minute epic “Tetragrammation”. A cacophony of sound, it’s an example of this band at their prime – delivering thrilling, cathartic and imaginative, as it strips back and begins again, returning to the various themes at its core of interlinking guitar work and the caterwauling vocals of Cedric Bixler-Zavala.

There is a sense of formula here though – “Vermicide” acts in much the same way as “The Widow” did on Frances the Mute, being the sole cut that lasts under six minutes, and the only really appropriate number for a ‘single’. It’s direct, immediate, and to some degree there is a school of thought that says the Mars Volta would be that much better if they delivered more numbers like this more often; there’s nothing wrong with being approachable.

The core of Amputechture is once more the musicality and amazing guitar work of Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez, who produces the album, wrote all the music, and ‘conducted’ the music too. “Viscera Eyes” features Bixler singing in Spanish, while “Day of the Baphomets” is as ludicrous as anything else the Mars Volta have done. There’s no doubt that this duo are an incredibly creative pair, but it would be nice if they reeled in their excesses and focussed on delivering something tight and cohesive, just to break the mould.