The Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on January 29, 2008, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Motown Records.
Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodríguez-López, the album's creation was fraught with strange occurrences after an experience with a ouija that Rodriguez-Lopez bought as a gift for vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala.
The album is their first to feature drummer Thomas Pridgen, and the last to include guitarist and sound manipulator Paul Hinojos, wind multi-instrumentalist Adrián Terrazas-González, and keyboardist Isaiah "Ikey" Owens.
[4] Having previously contributed the artwork to the 2006 release of Amputechture, Jeff Jordan was again brought in to handle the illustrations for the album, creating 11 original paintings to coincide with the theme of The Bedlam in Goliath, as well as including a piece from his own gallery.
[7] Dubbed "The Soothsayer", the board revealed stories, gave names and made demands, as the band was contacted by three different people who appeared in the form of one, who was then referred to as "Goliath".
[11] Without a stable studio drummer after the three consecutive losses of Jon Theodore, Blake Fleming and Deantoni Parks in a single year, the band was introduced to then 24-year-old Thomas Pridgen, whose youthful presence—as described by Bixler-Zavala—had given The Mars Volta new life.
It also includes excerpts from poems that were found attached to the ouija, describing a love triangle between a woman, her daughter and a man in a Muslim society, along with an honor killing involving these people.
[15] A ticket presale was announced on the band's website for a New Year's Eve show at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, promoted with flyers that featured exclusive The Bedlam in Goliath artwork illustrated by Jeff Jordan.
"[18] Blender also gave it a score of four stars out of five and said, "Never before have these kings of experimental metal sustained such pulse-quickening energy, honing their tricks—cryptic lyrics, cliffhanging cries, spine-twisting rhythms—into a screaming arrow of sound.
"[18] Shilpa Ganatra of Hot Press gave it a positive review and said, "The manner in which the group weave complex musical tapestries is certainly impressive from a purely technical perspective, but you suspect that they were a lot more fun to assemble than they are to listen to.
"[32] Other reviews are average, mixed or negative: Q gave it a score of three stars out of five and said "There's greater scope here [more] than ever before, with the gentle Ilyena providing space before Cavaletta's riot of detuned radios, car alarms and struggling internet connections.
[38] Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave the album only one star out of five and said, "The 'songs' (a relative concept on planet Mars Volta) sound as though they are competing to unleash as many prog-rock cliches as possible: portentous guitar riffs and twiddly bits are interspersed with all manner of atonal wind instruments and sonic pomposities.