The band The Mars Volta has a penchant for dissonance, screaming and playing with time signatures, as well as an uncanny ability to combine them with their eclectic influences to produce crunchy, delicious songs. Naturally, I had high expectations for their new album, “Octahedron,” which was released in June.

The seven-minute, twenty-two-second “Since We’ve Been Wrong” begins the album with soft, flowing chords, which I anticipated were leading up to the “cut and drop” of an epic track, and that by the 4-minute mark the song would be full-swing into musical chaos that still promised at least one guitar solo. The soft, flowing chords, however, turn into a soft, flowing song, uncharacteristically melodic, and somewhat lacking in energy. The second track, “Teflon,” proves to be a standard rock song, and I began to lose hope for one of my favorite bands. Fortunately, the remainder of the album make up somewhat for its lackluster beginning with a few satisfying jams and ear-bleeding vocals. In particular, the single “Cotopaxi” alludes to the crunchy deliciousness that had once been the norm for The Mars Volta.

“Octahedron” is not a bad album. In fact, compared to most of the crap that passes for music, it’s still a pretty good one. But compared to albums of The Mars Volta past, it lacks that “all killer no filler” quality necessary to remain in the upper echelons of the progressive-rock scene.

Thorn reviewer rating: 3 elephants