Recording Process
Recorded and mixed at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood and Rodriguez-Lopez's home studio in Brooklyn, New York, song material for The Bedlam in Goliath dates back to April 2006 when demos were first written. Without a stable studio drummer after the three consecutive losses of Jon Theodore, Blake Fleming and Deantoni Parks in a single year, the band was introduced to the 24-year-old Thomas Pridgen, whose youthful presence—as described by Bixler-Zavala—had given The Mars Volta new life. Rodriguez-Lopez worked with Rich Costey to finish the album in a three-week stretch, assisted by Shawn Michael Sullivan and Claudius Mittendorfer as editors.
In an interview, Carranza described the recording process for The Bedlam in Goliath stating that no more than three takes an hour were recorded, as a way to soak in what was recorded and to hear the differences, which in turn improved the general mood and atmosphere of the album's creation. Elaborating on the method, Carranza stated that "when van Gogh was around he wasn't just painting, painting, painting. I'm sure he took a step back once in a while. You should do the same when you're recording."
The string quintet on "Soothsayer" was recorded on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco.
Eventually the band decided in favor of Wax Simulacra as the first single:
| “ | Originally, the label wanted to introduce the LP with the track "Goliath," but the band wouldn't have it.
" 'Goliath' is about nine, 10 minutes long, and the end of it is so interesting, we didn't really want it to be used as a single," said. "It kept getting butchered and came off really bad. |
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