Mars Volta - the video game

The Mars Volta have faced accusations of pretension before. And the band's latest announcement won't exactly silence those critics. Ever the explorers of strange new ground, TMV plans to release an accompanying video game to its latest opus, The Bedlam in Goliath, on Amazon.com's music page. The electronic adventure, entitled Goliath The Soothsayer, becomes available on Jan. 2.

Okay, so it sounds a bit wacky, but clearly there's a rational explanation for this odd promotional device. Isn't that right, Mars Volta press release?

"The Bedlam In Goliath chronicles The Mars Volta's time with the "Soothsayer" a/k/a the Ouija board owned by vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and its mutation from a source of amusement during the tour supporting the band's Amputechture album into a malevolent psycho-spiritual force that nearly tore the group apart, collectively and individually."

So, okay, it sounds completely irrational. But odds are that the band has tucked its tongue firmly in cheek with this latest news... we hope. If you dare to view a trailer for the game, click here. It looks kind of like... a creepy game of hide-and-seek? We're really not sure.

We can still confirm, however, the previously reported release date of The Bedlam in Goliath. It's out Jan. 29 on Universal.

In addition to the New Year's Eve gig we mentioned in that old news item, TMV also has a few tour dates scattered about its website:

December
31 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

February
19 - Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum
20 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Stockholm Cirkus
22 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega

March
12 - Auckland, New Zealand @ St. James
14 - Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Convention Centre
15 - Sydney, Australia @ Hordern Pavilion
17 - Melbourne, Australia @ Festival Hall
19 - Adelaide, Australia @ Thebarton Theatre
21 - Perth, Australia @ Metro City
28 - Ventura, Calif. @ Ventura Theater
31 - Berkley, Calif. @ Berkley Community Theater