The Mars Volta have revealed the details for their sixth studio album, entitled Noctourniquet, which is due out March 27, 2012.   The first single, “The Malkin Jewel”, has just been made available for listen.

News of Noctourniquet‘s tentative release comes just after a huge announcement that At the Drive-In would be reuniting after an 11 year hiatus, during which time The Mars Volta and Sparta spawned.

Fans will be saddened to hear that guitar legend John Frusciante, who has been a key contributor to TMV’s studio work, will not be featured on this album.  Though Frusciante’s contributions will be undoubtedly missed, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’ has never had trouble matching Frusciante’s technical skill as a guitar player and his absence will probably go unnoticed by many.

Noctourniquet has been in the works for years.  Rodriguez-Lopez completed the instrumental work shortly after their last studio release, Octahedron, came out and since then has been anxiously awaiting its completion.  Apparently he handed the album off to vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala years ago, who felt he could not keep up with Rodriguez-Lopez’ prolific tendencies.  The two got in a couple arguments about when the album would be completed and it appears that the project took much longer than Rodriguez-Lopez anticipated.

The band has just released their first track, “The Malkin Jewel”.  Take a listen, the track has a distinct new sound to it.  It appears that Bixler-Zavala is experimenting with new ways to approach the voice, utilizing lower tones than he has presented before in work by The Mars Volta.

Noctourniquet Track List:

1. The Whip Hand
2. Aegis
3. Dyslexicon
4. Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound
5. The Malkin Jewel
6. Lapochka
7. In Absentia
8. Imago
9. Molochwalker
10. Trinkets Pale of Moon
11. Vedamalady
12. Noctourniquet
13. Zed and Two Naughts