The Mars Volta’s new full-length Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacío is now available to stream, but many fans heard it weeks ago—performed live and in sequence on their recent North American tour as openers for Deftones. No singles were released in advance. Instead, the band delivered the entire record onstage night after night, sidestepping expectations and once again doing things on their own terms.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala reportedly handed a CD-R copy to a hotel delivery worker. That was the only known “official” preview until release day. Now the full album is out, along with a just-announced fall headlining tour covering 25 cities across the U.S. and Canada.
Lucro sucio follows 2023’s Qué Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón, a stripped-down acoustic reworking of their 2022 comeback. But unlike the sharp left turn into pop territory on that record, this one digs back into more abstract terrain—splicing jazz, electronica, Latin motifs, and clipped, spectral songwriting.
Across its 18 tracks, only eight pass the three-minute mark. “Fin” and “Reina tormenta” open the album with minimalism—processed vocals and synth percussion barely past a minute each. The first longer piece, “Enlazan las tinieblas,” leans into jazz sax and shifting structures before dissolving into the brief vocal-led “Mictlán.”
Tracks like “Nefilibata” and “Cue the Sun” push Bixler-Zavala’s vocals to the front, surrounded by synth-heavy textures and freeform drumming. The phrase “you’re the one that I want” repeats like a ghost hook inside “Nefilibata,” while “Cue the Sun” is the closest the album gets to a lead single, despite never being promoted as one.
The album’s midpoint, “Voice in My Knives,” is its longest track but doesn’t radically expand the palette. It reflects the more ambient, self-contained approach that dominates the second half. “Celaje” and “Vociferó” keep things compact, though “Un disparo al vacío” injects energy with salsa-inflected guitars and one of the few dynamic choruses.
The title track closes the record with a gloomier tone, all drifting sax and layered keyboards. Like the opener, it resists easy resolution.
Fans caught early shows at Portland’s Moda Center or the Sacramento stop at Golden 1 Center already saw the shift. “They’re not playing the hits,” one fan noted. “Just the new album, straight through. No apology.”
Live, Omar Rodríguez-López keeps rhythm by swaying, even as his guitar seems to fight against the structure. One attendee remarked, “I sat up in the 200 level and brought earplugs. I wasn’t on the floor anymore—and neither were they.”
This album doesn’t aim to recapture the unhinged chaos of Frances the Mute or De-Loused. Bixler-Zavala’s vocals are more buried, effects-heavy. The percussion often leans on open-hand drums and Latin rhythms, surfacing more naturally than in earlier work.
Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacío might frustrate those waiting for a clear payoff, but it’s not uninterested in melody. “The Iron Rose” and “Mictlán” offer glimmers of soulfulness. Kerrang review called the closer “a sax-infused sign-off that’s so far off these legends’ finest work you have to wonder if they’re taking the piss.” Others, more generous, describe it as a “conceptual drift”—something intentionally unfinished, suspended in time.
The Mars Volta will begin their fall tour on October 25th in Dallas, ending November 29th in San Diego. Presales start April 15 via Ticketmaster.
The Mars Volta 2025 Tour Dates:
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10/25 — Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory
10/26 — Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
10/28 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
10/31 — Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore
11/01 — St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
11/02 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
11/04 — Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
11/05 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
11/07 — Portland, ME @ State Theatre
11/08 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues
11/09 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
11/11 — Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
11/12 — Newport, KY @ MegaCorp Pavilion
11/13 — Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
11/14 — Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
11/16 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
11/18 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
11/20 — Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory – Boise
11/21 — Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
11/22 — Tacoma, WA @ Temple Theatre
11/24 — Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24
11/25 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
11/26 — Pasadena, CA @ Pasadena Civic Auditorium
11/28 — Riverside, CA @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium
11/29 — San Diego, CA @ SOMA
