Lucro Sucio

Has a band’s new ‘era’ ever began via a leak on the internet?  We can’t recall an instance of it either, but it is hard to counter the claim that it is how the Lucro Sucio era commenced.

Quietly left on Reddit a leak (intentional or not is up for debate) months before the albums actual release, Lucro was given to The Mars Volta fans with hardly any fanfare.  Mix in out new AI slop reality and fans were perplexed.  Was this real or  a generated simulation of The Mars Volta.  It sure sounded real, so if it was a computer created fake it was a darn near impressive one.  It wasn’t helped that fan forum jokesters pushed the false narrative hard to create endless confusion for their lazy entertainment.

Typically in this scenario the breadcrumbs become a trail quite quickly, a tacit acknowledgement of the leak, an admission of a forthcoming project, but for The Mars Volta and Clouds Hill there was nothing; complete silence, neither a denial or admission.  A bold choice that created further fervor in the fan community.  

Most likely by accident, the trail came to fruition.  Comparing notes with a Polish online retailer we found the parallels between song names and lyrics buried in this haunted mystery.  Was it an elaborate hoax or were we truly refusing to cue the sun?  Was this atypically simple album cover truly the face of a new The Mars Volta release?  

Of course, a little patience pays off because we know all of it was real and all of it was true.  Their 8th….9th, LP would indeed be this slower more methodical, but sonically enormous album.  The dedicated were quick to note sonic and lyrical parallels to Noctourniquet including the minimal guitar, emphasis on synths, and lyrical references such as the voice in the knives.  Connections, sure but that would be denying Lucro’s truly unique voice in the discography; a blend of those charged synth tones with Latin roots, lunar salsa if you will.

The mum nature of advertising and promotion remained consistent until the record’s release, again confounding the faithful and flying under the radar of the casual.  To the observer, it was an opportunity wasted to hype a new album.  To those on the inside, it was all intentional.  Instead of blasting the arrival of their next output the band wanted to generate a long lost of air of mystery.  The plan, quietly out this album on the shelves in a non-descript paper bag.  Rekindle the old feeling of discovering a mysterious album in the wild and gambling on whether it would be good.  No lyrics, barely a track list.  The album’s existence and content were to be a puzzle for us to discover.  In a world of deeply unsubtle album releases filled with explainers, commentary, and notations there was indeed something special about this obtuse relic.  

The release of a new The Mars Volta album is always all well and good, but the committed know the magic happens live.  The album is mainly a marker in time for the larger progression and growth that is noted on stage, where the songs blossom and grow into something new.  

Instead of charging head-on into a headlining tour The Mars Volta would opt into a supporting slot for Deftones during their upcoming arena tour.  The Mars Volta have a mixed relationship with arena shows, often being too sonically dense for the space to cater to, creating a booming cacophony of noise and thunder.  Furthermore, it wasn’t uncommon for those supporting slots to be maybe 3 heavily expanded songs that would fill the 45 minute time slot.

This time was notably different.  For the first time in over 20 years they opted to play an entire album through, bringing this new, unknown, release on the road to confound the Deftones loyals.  The line-ups would be the same as the last few years, with the notable exception of Teri Suarez providing back up harmonizing vocals, a first for the band, and a welcome addition to the live performance.

Concert-goers, unsurprisingly, were confounded.  Those casually familiar with The Mars Volta were lost in a sea of brand new material that had barely been out in the world, hoping and praying they could get a crumb of something familiar; The Widow, Inertiatic, Goliath, something!  The hardcore, cited a band invigorated to bring this mystery on the road, with the songs evolving during these brief sets.  

Lucro Sucio was released on April 11th, 2025 to minimal fanfare.  Part of this could have been the band refusing to return to old form, again forgoing their well-known bombastic progressive and chaotic epics, while on the other hand the deliberate muted release strategy may have played a role.  Very few musical outlets reviewed it, likely due to a lack of review copies being distributed.  Physical copies were quietly placed on shelves, wrapped in brown bags to create the illusion of a lost totem found in the crates of your favorite record store.  

Fan reception was significantly more positive than their self-titled and acoustic release.  While some continued to grieve the end of the classic era, others welcomed the more subtle, but still profound style of Lucro.  Sure, the rapid fire moments were minimal in contrast to De-Loused, but the they were replaced by luscious musical textures, excellent song-writing, some of Cedric’s best vocals in over a decade, and dynamic sonic forces.  Despite all this we still got bold moments like Cue the Sun with its gnarly synths, and the pulsing vibe of Reina Tormenta.  It is fair to say the band was never going back to the old days, which had always been their promise, but the new days could still bear teeth, just slightly middle aged with a bad back.

More dates were announced in late 2025, featuring openers Feliz y Dada and Kiani Medina.  Around the same time a fallout appeared to have occurred between the band and their then label Clouds Hill.  While no official word has ever been directly said allusions to disagreements about the release strategy for Lucro and the desire to play the album in full live, prior to its release, were made.

The Autumn 2025 showcased The Mars Volta doing what they do best in the headlining spot, taking their studio output and evolving it.  The 45 minute Lucro Sucio exploded into 80 minutes of harsh jams, suffocating ambient drone, and the shocking dual vocals of Cedric and Teri Suarez.  This felt to many to be the truest form of the album, stretched, mutated, and built upon to celebrate the album itself and the dynamicism of improvisations based on these songs.  

The tour, clearly a treat of attending fans, appeared to have moved the band as well, as in 2026 The Mars Volta announced a live release of the album called Lucro Sucio Unfinished Business.  Being their first live release since 2005’s Scab Dates fans were excited to experience a high quality live release of this material, showcasing what truly powerful live perfomances.

Before its release, however, the band partook in a mini tour in late Summer 2026, playing a blend of Lucro Sucio songs, greatest hits like The Widow, and rare gems like Miranda That Ghost Just Isn’t Holy Anymore.