De-Loused In The Comatorium by The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta
De-Loused In The Comatorium
2003
Progressive Rock
Universal

1. Son Et Lumiere
2. Inertiatic E.S.P.
3. Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
4. Tirame A Las Arañas
5. Drunkship Of Lanturns
6. Eriatarka
7. Cicatriz E.S.P.
8. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed
9. Televators
10. Take The Veil, Cerpin Taxt
(Also included is a 500x495 album cover .jpeg)

Are you peaking in the red
Perforated at the neck
What of this mongrel architect
A broken arm of soon will set
Past, present and future tense
Clipside of the pinkeye fountain

"Inertiatic E.S.P."

I've been putting off writing the description to this album because I'm drawing a blank at how to properly describe it. This is the album that basically got me into experimental and underground music. It is The Mars Volta's most critically acclaimed and best selling record, and although I'm incredibly partial to their next album, Frances The Mute, I think that De-Loused is an excellent place to start, and one of the best progressive rock albums ever made. It is the only Volta album to be produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin, (who has gathered fame for the likes of The Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, and Rage Against The Machine) and it is the most focused and cohesive Mars Volta record out there because of his production, in my opinion. Easier to take, if you will.

Describing the sound is hard. The Mars Volta rose from the ashes of the groundbreaking post-hardcore band At The Drive-In's divorcey breakup. The real talent of At The Drive-In (The lyricist and singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and the guitarist, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez) decided to start a now 8-peice prog band. So, their sound is a strange mixture of Rush-y progressive rock and Fugazi-y post-hardcore with a lot of different influences added in. The founders' roots led to the inevitable influence of traditional latin music, and Omar's love for both jazz and ambient music led to those being part of the mix as well. The end product is a very spacelike, heavy, percussion-led progressive sound with jazz interludes and long, drawn out instrumental sections.

The Mars Volta can be hard to take for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. As previously mentioned, they rely on instrumentals more than an average rock band. Cedric Bixler-Zavala's peircing screech can be grating on some ears, but those who have grown to love it will appreciate it the most on this record. There's none of this on De-Loused, but many Volta songs feature bilingual vocals, going back and forth between spanish and english, which can be a put-off.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez has a very interesting way of looking at guitar parts as well. I think it was put best by the podcaster Jay Glatfelter when he described his guitar playing as, "He doesn't really. play guitar the way you're supposed to, but it works." His parts are mostly made of self-invented chords, near-impossible jumpy leads, and lots and lots of effects pedals. I would guess he has over 50 at least. They aren't all used at the same time, of course, but you have to think of all the strange sounds he can get out of these things.

But if you can look past the Volta's absurdities, you will learn to love them. They're increddibly talented, have a very cohesive, full sound, and have unmatched songwriting skills. Their first two albums, De-Loused In The Comatorium and Frances The Mute play out like movies, creating vivid imagery in your head on every listen. The instruments come together to sound like a dense landscape of sound, like a great painting. So, just get some good headphones out, put on the album, and fall into the music.

Click here to download part 1 (47.11 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (82.47 MB)

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CD / Digital Copy