Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Prog rock ensemble The Mars Volta has released a preview of their upcoming live album titled “Lucro Sucio; Unfinished Business”, as per theprp. This preview features a combined performance of the tracks “Voice In My Knives” and “Poseedora De Mi Sombra.” The band employed a cryptic teaser website that allowed fans to vote on the live performances to be included in the compilation. This album reflects recordings from their fall 2025 North American tour, centered around the album “Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos Del Vacio.” The complete recording is scheduled for release on November 20th.
The origins of The Mars Volta can be traced to the band At the Drive-In. The group disbanded on the brink of achieving commercial success, due to a combination of creative stagnation and divergent musical visions. Members Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López subsequently pursued their experimental, dub-influenced side project named De Facto. This ensemble included Bixler-Zavala on drums, Rodríguez-López on bass, Isaiah “Ikey” Owens on keyboards, and Jeremy Ward providing vocals, loops, and sound effects.
In 2001, Eva Gardner joined De Facto as the bassist, and the group recorded two tracks with drummer Blake Fleming and producer Alex Newport. These recordings constituted the initial demo for The Mars Volta. Their first public performance took place at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California, featuring Rodríguez-López, Bixler-Zavala, Owens, Gardner, Ward, and drummer Jon Theodore. This lineup produced three additional tracks with Newport, which were compiled into the EP “Tremulant”, released in early 2002 by Gold Standard Laboratories.
Following the dissolution of At the Drive-In, Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala found themselves reinitiating their careers through performances in smaller venues. During their initial years, The Mars Volta was distinguished by disorderly live performances and significant substance abuse.
After the release of “Tremulant”, the band continued touring with a fluctuating lineup while preparing their debut album, “De-Loused in the Comatorium”, produced in collaboration with Rick Rubin and launched on June 24, 2003. Unlike Tremulant, which lacked a cohesive theme aside from prophetic references, De-Loused presented a unified narrative of speculative fiction depicting an individual’s first-person account of being in a drug-induced coma and confronting his inner evil.
