January 26, again two new records (CD/LP) by Omar Rodriguez will see the light of day in Europe. Artwork and music will be disclosed soon.

WAR12: Despair
1 In Einem Jahr Mit 13
2 Liebe Ist Kalter Als Der Tod
3 Satansbraten
4 Angst Essen Seele Auf
5 Martha
6 Rio Das Mortes
7 Warnung Vor Einer Heilgen Nutte
8 Chinesisches Roulette
9 Lola
10 Angst Vor Der Angst
Written, Performed and Produced by Omar Rodriguez Lopez

Fans of The Mars Volta will undoubtedly be aware of Omar Rodriguez Lopez's visit to Israel in 2006, an event with great influence and repercussions on that band's 2008 album, The Bedlam in Goliath. Returning with a "talking board" which he presented as a gift to his songwriting partner, Cedric Bixler Zavala, the pair soon found themselves at the center of a series of strange and somewhat negative phenomena resulting, as Rodriguez Lopez has insisted, from the presence of the board as well as the overwhleming darkness of his life during the post-Israel months. Prior to beginning the studio sessions for Bedlam..., Rodriguez Lopez recorded Despair, a nihilistic and disturbing meditation on his experiences in and around Jerusalem culled from field recordings and studio experimentation. A nightmarish pastiche of drones, noise, feedback, and unrecognizable audio hallucinations, Rodriguez Lopez has, appropriately, compared the experience of listening to the album as not unlike that of a "bad acid trip". Cryptic titles such as "Liebe Ist Kalter Als Der Tod" and "Angst Vor Der Angst" provide little clue for the non-German speaker of what the various compositions have in store, an intentional suggestion of the disorientation and anxiety housed within the record's grooves. Despair challenges the listener and will no doubt be devisive amongst Volta fans.

WAR13 - Megaritual
1 A Device Imagined to Turn
2 Screaming Babies Inside Out
3 At the Push of a Button
4 Bells at the Slipstream
5 Good is Repaid with Evil
6 Panta Section
7 Hands Vs. Helix
8 Dispanec Triage
9 Dead Hisses to Match Our Own
OMAR - GUITAR, BASS, PIANO, SYNTH
MARCEL - DRUMS, PERCUSSION, PIANO, SYNTH

Megaritual does not appear in the dictionary, nor on wikipedia. The concept, however, is gaining momentum amongst conspiracy theorists and those fascinated by the social, political, and other real-world consequences of events that, at face value, seem too massive in scope to be the result of design. However, as religious fundamentalists find proof of "intelligent design" abundant in the world around them, so too do those who acknowledge the idea of the megaritual as inherent to the society we live in and, indeed, the universe we occupy. There comes a time when coincidence, happenstance and the arbitrary nature of "chaos" simply do not provide adequate explanation for the myriad spokes of the web we inhabit. When the concept is applied to nature and the rhythms of the planet, the cosmos, and the vast, uncharted depths of the human subconscious, it would seem that viewed in a certain light, every aspect of our physical and psychological realities is megaritual.

Megaritual is the final album in the series initiated and recorded by Omar Rodriguez Lopez in Amsterdam. Committed to tape in 2006 and mixed the following year, the album features nine instrumental tracks performed solely by Omar and his brother, Marcel. Accomplished multi-instrumentalists, there are few moments on the album that do not give the impression that the duo are in fact a "full" band, though perhaps not one as populated as The Mars Volta. Opener "A Device Imagined to Turn" rocks and rumbles in a similar manner to that band's anthemic "Goliath"; the somnambulant "Bells at the Slipstream" and "Good is Repaid with Evil" combine piano and synth melodies in a manner recalling Vangelis' soundtrack for Blade Runner; album closer "Dead Hisses to Match Our Own" stomps and wails in psychedelic abandon. Megaritual is another compelling and unpredictable entry in the growing Rodriguez Lopez canon, sure to satisfy the casual passerby and the committed fan alike.