Former Sparta guitarist Paul Hinojos' defection to The Mars Volta in March of 2005 fueled a fair amount of well deserved speculation among both critics and fans. It was the latest development in the incestuous and oft-bizarre relationship between the two post-At The Drive In bands. The back story reads something like a post-hardcore soap opera: Critically acclaimed and undeniably seminal At the Drive In breaks up in 2001. From its ashes, 2 fundamentally different musical entities emerge: Sparta is comprised of former ATDI guitarist Jim Ward, Hinojos, and Drummer Tony Hajjar. The Mars Volta features ex-ATDI Vocalist Cederic Bixler-Zavala and Guitarist/Bassist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Bixler-Zavala, who broke up ATDI because he saw the band as being mired in genre monogamy, spearheads a Latino-influenced juxtaposition of experimentally ambient tones, Zeppelin riffs, and beatnik-esque lyricism. Ward creates Sparta, a comparatively typical rock band defined by propulsive guitars and sweeping use of a variety of ominous effects. TMV is critically acclaimed for its pliant eccentricity while Sparta's Wiretap Scars is mostly seen as a half-hearted attempt to genericize the ATDI sound. In 2003, TMV Sound Tech/Vocal Operator Jeremy Ward (and cousin to Sparta's Jim Ward) dies of heroin overdose. Ward's death, a month before TMV's full length debut De-Loused in the Comatorian, spurs Hinojos' (remember him?) departure from Sparta to TMV.

So, where does this leave us? On one hand, we have the bizarre and critically over-hyped Mars Volta with three former ATDI members and the less-heralded, semi-traditional Sparta with the two remaining ATDI band mates. Both bands' second albums were inspired, in one way or another, by the deceased Jeremy Ward: TMV based their 2005 effort, Frances the Mute, on a cryptic journal found by Ward while working as an El Paso area repo-man and Sparta's Jim Ward used the idea of personal loss as fodder for the 2004 album, Porcelain. While the transitory and intertwined lineage of both Sparta and The Mars Volta has intrigued, frustrated, and entertained listeners, it does, in fact, have a tangible link to current events. Hinojos' decampment left a sizeable hole in Sparta's lineup and effectively caused almost an entire year of inactivity. In January of 2006, however, Sparta announced that former Engine Down and Denali (both Richmond VA area all-stars) guitarist would serve as Hinojos' permanent replacement.

As a teaser for their upcoming album, Threes, Sparta recently released, via Myspace, the track "Were Taking Back Control." (Listen to it here) A rigid, hard-hitting song that mixes Ward's enterprising vocals with an undercutting vortex of pneumatically intelligent guitar interplay, the future seems to bode well for Sparta. Markedly better than anything off of Porcelain, "Were Taking Back Control" could potentially act as something of a precursor to an exhilarative new direction for Sparta. The track combines the detached creepiness of Sparta's debut, Wiretap Scars, with the plaintiveness and acuity of ATDI. Sparta also released the tracklisting for Threes (see it here), which is set to be released October 10th on Hollywood Records.

The Mars Volta has also finished recording their third album, titled Amputechture, which is set to be released on August 21^st. The track “Viscera Eyes,” a meandering, incohesive 9 minute odyssey can be heard on their Myspace page. The band also announced that they would be working with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. According to Bixler-Zavala, Frusciante helped track Amputechture’s guitar tracks so that full time guitarist and producer Rodriguez-Lopez could objectively evaluate and tweak the songs. Furthermore, TMV announced that they would be opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in fall of 2006.