Alternative prog-rock outfit The Mars Volta [ tickets ] will debut material from its forthcoming studio album during a January club tour ahead of the disc's release.

The band--led by former At the Drive-In members Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals) and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (guitar)--kicks off the outing Jan. 9 in Burlington, VT. Tickets for all shows except the group's Jan. 14 New York City show (which went on sale Dec. 8) will go on sale Dec. 15; see the official Mars Volta website for further information.

Due in stores Jan. 29, "The Bedlam in Goliath" is a concept record that tells the tale of a Ouija board nicknamed "Soothsayer" owned by Bixler-Zavala, "and its mutation from a source of amusement during the tour supporting the band's 'Amputechture' album into a malevolent psycho-spiritual force that nearly tore the group apart, collectively and individually," according to a press release.

The group suffered a number of hardships during the recording of its fourth studio album, ranging from floods to disappearing drummers (the group has gone through a number of lineup changes behind the drum kit since the departure of longtime member Jon Theodore last year).

"The studio we were working in flooded, and then our main engineer had a nervous breakdown, which caused us to almost have to start all over again, because he knew where everything was," Bixler-Zavala told MTV News last month. "I had foot problems, and I ended up having to get surgery.

"We got sunk into a hole financially because of our drummer problems, and having to get a new drummer mid-tour when we were out with The Red Hot Chili Peppers," he added.