The Mars Volta released six studio albums between 2003 and 2012 before splitting due to a falling-out between founding members Bixler-Zavala and Rodríguez-López. In the years that followed, the pair formed new group Antemasque and resurrected At the Drive-In for a new record in 2017.
The decision to return to The Mars Volta was because “it’s family,” Bixler-Zavala explained to NME in a 2022 interview. “It’s an old family friend that we wanted to start communicating with again. It just took some time to get it right.” Re-releasing their previous material in 2021 “helped us close the door on the past and usher in the future,” he added.
The Mars Volta released their self-titled comeback record in September 2022. The return effort scored a glowing five-star review from NME‘s Andy Price, who wrote: “’The Mars Volta’ is a record that seizes the attention instantly, peppered as it is with arresting top-lines. But it also demands – and handsomely rewards – repeated listens, by virtue of its meticulously assembled arrangements (just bathe your ears in shining third single ‘Vigil”s luxuriant mix).”