Cryptomnesia

VINYL FORMAT. Comes with an MP3 download card! Cryptomnesia is the first release by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez. El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez is differentiated from the guitarist's other namesake projects by his selection of players, specifically Zach Hill (Hells) on drums, Jonathan Hischke (Hella) on synth bass, and Juan Alderete de la Pena (The Mars Volta) on bass guitar. Additionally, Cryptomnesia features the vocals of guest frontman Cedric Bixler Zavala (The Mars Volta).

Rodriguez Lopez completed the album in 2006, shortly after finishing The Mars Volta's Amputechture. Cryptomnesia's tracks are a decidedly heavier affair than that album, a conscious decision on his part to switch gears from writing horn arrangements and complex instrumentation for an octet; it is, therefore, comparatively stripped-down and aggressive, with Hill's presence injecting a dose of chaos and inertia that are a keystone of the El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez sound.

Bixler Zavala's vocals, tracked in 2008 after two years of his dwelling on the enormity of the recording, are certain to send even the most casual of listeners running for their lyric sheet. The ever-prolific Rodriguez Lopez continues to set the bar higher and higher for himself. El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez has been the stuff of rumors for three years; Cryptomnesia proves more than worth the wait.