Strap yourself in, hold on, and feel free to scream. Few musical experiences match the roller coaster ride that is THE MARS VOLTA, and in 2010, they’ll loop the loop in Australia for the fourth time. You love THE MARS VOLTA? Here’s three last chances to feel the thrill.

Since emerging from the ashes of El Paso’s lauded and lamented At the Drive-In (who also played BIG DAY OUT way back when) in 2001, composer and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and incredibly dexterous vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala have followed their muse in whichever direction it takes them; so, far the journey has been the ride of the creative lifetime.

“Some of the most experimental, technically mind-blowing and original music being released today. What THE MARS VOLTA do at a show is more than just play songs… the band takes you on a journey that is all at once uplifting, wild, shameless and self-indulgent.” (Beat, July 2008)

Their fifth album, Octahedron, takes all the energy, all of the furious invention that has characterized THE MARS VOLTA’s music so far, and distills it with a clarity they’ve never before achieved.

The sound may be less aggressive than 2008’s The Bedlam in Goliath, but touring with a pared-down six-piece line-up of Bixler-Zavala, Rodriguez-Lopez, bassist Juan Alderete, keyboardist Isaiah Ikey Owens, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez on percussion and synths, and drummer Thomas Pridgen, THE MARS VOLTA are still blistering, ferocious, and set the stage alight like no other.

“THE MARS VOLTA practically exploded onto the stage, rousing the crowd from the first hyperactive guitar chords and terrifying drum rhythms. Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala are the ultimate showmen.” (The Independent, July 2009)

“The only objective, throughout, has been to always move forward,” says Rodriguez-Lopez. “To always make the next album sound different to the one that came before it, to always be evolving.” The latest step in the evolution of THE MARS VOLTA will be on show in Australia this summer.