LIVE

This short but sweet live EP is a forum for powerful renditions of 4 Deloused in the Comatorium tracks (being Roulette Dares, Eriatarka, Cicatrix ESP, and Televators). The Mars Volta sound very ... Mars Volta on this record and every nuance of their performance is thrown into sharp focus. Therefore this album does carry the trademarks of their sound: extended psych guitar jams, howling croons, non-sequiter lyrics, and general hard-prog excess. It is also an excellent indicator of the band's relationship to their studio- recorded material. Sure, the sound isn't anywhere near as dense and layered as their meticulously crafted albums, and yes sometimes Cedric forgets some of the words. But I don't love this band for any notions of "exactness" in a live setting (I have seen them numerous times in-fact so I know better than that). This band's greatest strength oftentimes seems to be the fury, energy, and passion that they can use to create very hypnotic, memorable tunes. On this album every song is ratcheted up a notch;they warp into things louder, sharper-edged, and more unravelled at the seams than the last time you saw them. I just hope you like jamming. A solid effort from the band in all their sweaty, wide-eyed glory for sounding this ragged and unstable.

Highlight: I almost hate to admit that I love the extended, indulgent intro to Deloused MVP 'Cicatriz ESP'. The passion that underpins their performance of 'Televators' redeems the afore mentioned forgotten lyrics and any inaccuracy that their possible state of sobriety may have caused.

I'm generally very careful to valuate EPs for what they are and the same goes for live albums. So this Live EP wins a (hopefully fair) 7 / 10.

NB, As a Kiwi I got this as part of the Televators Tour Edition EP. Best $6 I ever spent!