DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM

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and as the turn of the millenium occured music continued to progress alongside time but no new studio album has been this memorable since the dawn of our new millenium.

nowadays progressive rock bands are described as "dinosaurs" yet prog rock is the most challenging, entertaining and musically perfected type of music there is, and the mars volta are one of the few bands that continue to prove that progressive rock is very much alive. this band also reminds us of how good those "dinosaurs" are.

Inspired by the works of yes and pink floyd (and they blagged pink floyd art designer storm thorgerson to make the album cover) the mars volta are formed from the ashes of at the drive in, who were renown for their intense live shows and really grasped the concept of the word NOISE! Cedric and Omar decided they were no longer fufilled by the music they produced in at the drive in and felt it was time to move on. deloused in the comatorium was the result of that decision. this milleniums true masterpiece.

Deloused in the comatorium is a concept album (also a dying breed) which easily competes with the wall, quadrophenia and scenes from a memory in terms of combining music and story. Based on the life and times of Julios Venegas. a friend of the band who tried to shoot up rat poison into his veins but ended up going into coma in which he saw strange psychadelic images. after awaking from the coma he then succeeds in suicide. its funny how it takes a horrific event to spark off ideas that can revolutionise music once again.

the album begins with quiet intro track "son et lumiere" which even though is only a minute and a half long, sets the scene for progressive rock by starting off quietly and having the silence being broken by mystifying synth effects which lead into menacing and unclear vocals from excellent singer Cedric, exploding into the heavy guitar riffs which leads us into a beautiful drum fill and "inertiatic ESP". the sheer volume of this track never ceases to amaze any listener. its not so much heavy like a death metal band but to step up from a quiet intro to multilayered guitar noises and cedic wailing "now i'm lost" is pure beauty.

"Roulette Dares" is the first full out prog piece and has more time to expand atmospherically. This song often weaves in and out of menacing guitar licks to slower vocal parts. The "exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed" part is incredible. This track starts to fill more dreamlike and comatose as the story puts the listener into a type of coma fantasy. There are often spacey guitar effects used in some of the songs which reminds me of something pink floyd might tackle but especially in the style of "moonchild" by king crimson. The Mars Volta have incredibly put the effort into taking their inspirations and making something boldly unique out of them.

"Tira me a las aranas" (which roughly translates as throw me to the spiders) is a haunting and dark acoustic piece with the horn of the railroad in the distance. Extremely atmospheric. This piece links the journey from roulette dares to drunkship and it sort of reminds me of "horizons" by genesis or "mood for a day" by yes. A similar logic is used anyway. This piece is touching yet in a way miserable at the same time.

"Drunkship of Lanterns" and "Eriatarka" almost flow together as one song and are indeed my favourite parts of this album. Drunkship uses strong drumming technique and really shows off the sense of progression, experimenting and it really does make the listner feel a part of this psychadelic journey as you have been taken far away from that quiet intro of the album. Drunkship has excellent lyrics such as "counting the toll", "carpel jets hit the ground" and "lash of one thousand eyebrows clicking", whenever cedric wails these lines it feels so incredible and touching. Some of Omars guitar pieces here are incredible, whether they are subtle and use ghostly effects or straight out zeppelin-ish licks and solos. Ikey excells on the keyboards. There is also an allusion to the cicatriz centre piece here.

"Eriatarka" starts with more compassionate vocals with downer, informative lyrics. I love the way the song changes from the soft intro to the frantic "tentacles smirk please" part. This follows to another preulude of the cicatriz centrepiece with the different effects. I love the way it draws you back into the song too. One of my favourite moments on the whole album comes in at around 3:38 where omar, ikey and jon theodore kick in with the amazing bridging battle and then cedric wails "evaporated the fur/ because it covers them/ if you only knew the plans they had for us" this nearly leaves me in tears every time as i can never get over how good this album is. The song ends with lots of trippy effects to make way for the albums epic centrepiece...

"Cicatriz ESP" is the longest piece on the album and the two RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS excell themselves. Flea's brilliant basslines thunder through jon's incredible drumwork and cedric really grabs the listeners attention with clearer vocals. This then finds its way into the brilliant "I'm defected" which always wow's me. There is an incredible show of prog effects in the middle of this album with john frusciante creating trippy solos and effects for a long but listenable length of time.This shows off the drug based substance of the musicians. this is incredibly progressive. There is meant to be the effect of being underwater and it is done very well if you listen from around 6 minutes on. there are even some Floydish effects that remind me of echoes (also a water themed piece). This then leads back into an excellent reprisal of the I'm Defected part and that familar bassline is there too for one of the best progressive pieces on the album. This track also reflects to the "squidman" artwork that Storm Thorgerson created that represents a monster like creature ascending to heaven as a man from the murky depths of self disgust. This idea comes from the Greek representation of water and death. The ESP in the title could stand for exit sleeping process, representing the end of the coma fantasies as cerpin taxt awakes. (the ESP in intertiatic is enter sleeping process). This is only a theory. There are huge discussions about the story and lyrics and their different meanings and interpretations on www.thecomatorium.com

Its not over yet. "This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed" is one of the shorter tracks, (well 5 mins isn't short) that takes you from the relaxing watery effects of cicatriz to a keep in the teeth frantic guitar based track. Omar and Cedric continue to play together flawlessly almost like brothers. This is a strong piece and is bound to give you a headache. "Televators" is full of sorrow and depression. A slow acoustic piece with trippy effects to backround. Cedric's best vocals display is probably here, tho i love his voice in whatever he plays. The lyrics are about Cerpin Taxt (who is based on Julios Venegas) awaking from the coma and finally achieving suicide. This track continuosly builds up and shows a nice change to the album.

The album closer is an epic. It seems to have everything. Jon theodore is a star on this album as his drum fills, solos and beats are truely insane. One of the best parts of this song (and the album) is there is an amazing bass solo in the middle or towards the end. I've seen a live version and it was taken to even more epic proportions but for the studio version, go flea! This song has a similar concept to "Cicatriz ESP" in that it builds up to an instrumental centrepiece that is very progressive and lengthy and then has a reprisal of the main vocal and guitar structure. The outro is spectacular and i couldn't have asked for a better ending to an epic story as cerpin taxt takes the veil and questions who brought him to the afterlife.

musically this album continuosly switches between fast and fiddley guitar and keyboard pieces to slow, psychadelic sounds. The mars volta have used the sound effects to their advantage to create a "space rock" feel to the album and a sense of distance as it feels like each layer of sound is attacking your ears from different directions. The sheer intensity of this 60 minute trip plays on your mind. Ikey Owens frantic keyboard action is the closest thing to match up to the wizard, rick wakeman of yes. Cedric and Omar take the spotlight on this album with their intense guitar sounds and ghostlike vocals which are truely amazing. music may have changed. yet the mars volta have bought the sound of the 60's and 70's perfectly into the new millenium. deloused in the comatorium is just what modern music needed. Now i cant wait to see where the next studio album, "frances the mute" takes us.

If you ever get a chance to read the lyrics to this album you will be amazed and with the wide use of a thesaurus and will find words you never knew existed and a mixture of languages as you would expect from the titles. Musically orginal and challenging throughout, this album will be impossible to put down. a masterpiece, makes ugliness look beautiful, beauty obscured, contridication and irony. the mars volta.

The music on this album almost singlehandedly revived my savor for progressive rock after spending the majority of the last two decades with frustration and disappointment...and makes my list of the best albums of the last ten years, in any genre. The lyrics are unabashedly verbose,but the concepts are basic and powerful; the instrumentation is (comparatively) sparse and often stark, but always full of energy and exploration. There is a haunting, ragged passion throughout that dares to be both violent and vulnerable.

Theodore's percussion skills drive each song, from wild feats of rock drumming to tempestuous latin rhythms. Cedric has a distinctive upper-register voice, youthful but not the least bit naive, and an uncanny knack for delivering memorable lyric hooks within the experimental framework. Omar covers a wide range of tones, favoring a slightly overdriven but hardly smooth sound that brings to mind some of Fripp's classic complex single-note patterns. Every so often he'll pour on the fuzz for a sustained lead tone (a Howe-meets-Santana combo which is especially striking during the latin section of 'Cicatrix'). One of my few criticisms concerns the not infrequent atmospheric passages, mostly effects and guitar noise- dynamically, they suit the structure well but are themselves not always terribly interesting. I'm guessing that the band is more than capable of some great atmospherics but struggled a bit in the studio to match the excitement of these same parts as performed live. One might counter that this strikes a refreshing contrast with many albums where every last note is carefully premeditated.

Rawness has never been a hallmark of the progressive genre (apart from some live mishaps and 'just messing around' filler tracks), but The Mars Volta proved that the punk influence and the progressive rock approach (for lack of a better word) could be integrated...an idea that I'm sure would have sounded absurd during most of the 80s and 90s. This album is something special, a herald perhaps of a burgeoning reconciliation between the often backwards-looking and insular progressive rock genre and the brash and energetic sounds of more alternative, underground forces. I know it isn't for everyone in the Prog community, but condemning it to less than four stars seems miserly.

This really is a good album, 4.5 stars. It certainly is unique in it's ability to fuse together prog rock, punk rock, latin and salsa influences, and a hint of jazz-rock fusion. It is about the life and times of a character (Cerpin Taxt) based on one of the bandmates' friends, who attempted suicide by overdosing and entered a coma. He struggles to decide whether to live or go through with the suicide. When he awoke, he decided to finish the suicide and jumped off a building. It takes a sort of prog cliche (used in Ayreon's "Human Equation" and "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway): the cliche of dying/entering a coma and going through an introspective journey and deciding to live, and twists it. Cerpin Taxt decides to die. Not humorous, I know, but even death can be ironic.

The first track serves as an intro, and an excellent one at that. Everything builds up as Taxt reviews why he wishes to die, and injects rat poison into his veins. The guitars slash into the flowing keyboards multiple times, then everything stops. A huge strike on the guitar, and "Inertiac ESP" begins. I don't know what Bryan Adair is talking about; this is one of the best songs on here. It is very dense, but not chaotic. And the "now I'm lost" vocal is simply wonderful. Taxt's journey has begun.

"(The Haunt of) Roulette Dares" is a fairly good track, but is not my favorite really. Following it is a short acoustic instrumental ("Tira a Me a las Aranas" -- translated as "throw me to the spiders") which leads into "Drunkship of Lanterns," a great and varied song. "Eriatarka" is another winner, a veritable roller coaster of sound.

"Cicatriz ESP" is a good song, beginning and ending in a beat-based rock fashion which sandwiches a keyboard psychadelic interlude. In the next track, "This Apparatus Must be Unearthed," Taxt wakes from his coma. The instrumentation is extremely chaotic, but by no means bad. Then the music cuts, and we are left with the sounds of birds chirping.

This leads to "Televators," a sad acoustic epilog which tells of Taxt's choice to commit suicide. But it's not over. We are flung into a band frenzy for "Take the Veil," a sort of odd ending. It functions about the same as "Cicatriz ESP," and seems to be about Taxt just after he dies, and he is in purgatory. Or something.

All in all, it really is an essential album to any new-school proggers. Old-schoolers should try it, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't work for you.

TMV is presenting on their first full-length release a kind of concept album which is supposed to tell us the story about the suicide of a friend of the band after he's fallen into coma. From the first note on this record one can realize that this is not the kinda of Prog, we are used to from whatever sub-genre, this is something completely else, well maybe one could call it Post-Rock meets hard alternative rock with hints of 70's Prog.

Starting with electronic sounds in Radiohead style followed by thunderstorm-like guitars and drums in the short introduction "Son et Lumiere " the laser is arriving at "Inertiatic Esp" which sounds like a combination of modern alt. rock with traditional prog. In "Roulette Dares" one gets hints to Post-Punk band Muse not only due to the vocal style, but as well nice guitar lines without any distortion, really a rather good mix of different styles in some way though being initially not that "my cup of tea". " Tira Me a las Arañas" is a rather short piece with odd acoustic guitar and some electronic effects. "Drunkship Of Lanterns" and "Eriatarka" are both sounding very quirky and weird having great guitar play and drumming. "Cicatriz ESP" is the longest track on here with 12+ minutes and though starting in a basically grunge rock vein it has some nice and versatile instrumental section later on. But unfortunately as well an ambient electronic one in between that is a bit too much extended for my taste.In "This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed" there are some references for old school prog to find like the Fripp-ish guitar. "Televators" is almost a fully "acoustic" song with some bongo percussion. Last song "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" could be described again as a sort of sophisticated alt. rock showing great guitar work by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.

As a SUMMARY I've to say that TMV's music sounds very fresh, modern and absolutely progressive in the real literal sense though I've to admit I did not like it that much in the beginning.

edited 7/20/2006

In a time were music is stuck in [&*!#], hip hop and pop are more powerful than ever (that's bad) and the so called "rock" bands like Linkin Park or Evanescence play the same bad song over and over again, The Mars Volta seems like fallen from the sky!!! Finally a good band to reach mainstream popularity... and what a great album too! Their music is a great mix of prog, psychotic sounds and free jazz. But if I had to say the type of music they play... I'd say [%*!#]ing loud music would be the right name... but good [%*!#]ing loud music!!! My favorite songs are "Son et lumiere-Intertiatic esp", Roulette dares (the haunt of)", "Drunkship of lanterns" and "Televators". This last one , unlike the rest of the album, is a beautiful and sad number played with acoustic guitars. the chorus at the edn and Cedric´s vocals give me the chills every time. By the time I'm writing this review I haven't bought "France the Mute" (their 2 album), but I'm sure it won't take long before I do. I say this because I'm told it's even better than "De-loused in the comatorium"...I surely hope so, but if not I'm still happy this band even exists!!!!!!!!!!!

Around about a year ago, I was watching MTV. I don't why but instead of their usual boy-bands and lust-inducing underaged girls, MTV was going a "rock show". I barely paid attention as one dull outfit after another came on ... The Strokes, The Stripes, The Strikes, The Strobes (I'm only half-joking here!) ... they all sounded the same to me. And then out of the blue, I heard it ... the awesome spine-chilling sound of The Mars Volta's Inertiatic ESP. It's a song I'm still in love with, and it fuelled my obssession with The Mars Volta. In fact, the little waltz section (towards the end of the song) alone is worth more to me than many a modern progressive rock album.

Throughout the course of this album you will hear evidence that The Mars Volta's main men Cedric and Omar have been listening to Yes (particularly Heart Of the Sunrise), King Crimson, Pink Floyd and even Santana. Yet what sets The Mars Volta apart from many other progressive rock acts of our time is that they have an original sound that manages to sound cutting edge to today's youngsters yet has enough invention to appeal to hardcore proggers. I'm not one of those who's going to go overboard though. Just like Marillion who I believe made some of the best prog of the 80s, The Mars Volta may be best of their time, but still don't compare to the greats of the 70s.

I'd say about 70% of this album is top notch. I love the laid-back tune Televators with that gorgeous harmony vocal part and delicate acoustic guitar playing. I like the chaotic, razor's edge feel of the conluding tune Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt, which also does a great job of "wandering" through a spaced-out jam segment before returning to the main song. I love the melancholy verses and the underused guitar riff (that preceeds the chorus ... and is actually drowned out by it) of Roulette Dares. I think the vocals and lyrics are awesome, but there are times when I get lost, and other times when I feel the band repeats the same brilliant trick too often (for example those rapid-fire drum rolls of Jon Theodore, or the fact that some choruses and guitar solos sound interchangeable.)

I had a tough time with the stars on this one ... if you compare it for example to the 3 stars that I gave most Camel albums, you might think I prefer listening to The Mars Volta whereas I actually enjoy De-Loused as much as Rain Dances, Breathless, etc ... but I've given De-Loused an extra star because of how fresh it sounds in relation to the competition. In some ways, this is an album that made me believe again! ... 71% on the MPV scale

The first time I listened to this album I felt that it was a totally different kind of music I had had been exposed with. But, I found it interesting. So I kept spinning the CD, especially if no one was around. Why? The distortion produced by the music man . It's not that bad for my ears but I was afraid some people don't get used to it. Yes, some people might say that the music is noisy. Let's respect the musician's style and just let our mind open with their music. And this is my view abut this album ..

It starts with an ambient style keyboard followed with voice in the opening track Son et Lumiere (1:35). It flows seamlessly into a hard driving track Inertiatic ESP (4:24) with pondering vocal and very energetic style. What interesting is the keyboards sound at the back that resembles electric piano played in chords that seem to run in different direction with the melody but it produces excellent harmony. I think this is the interesting part of this track. Distorted guitar sounds provide balance sound with weird but powerful vocal line. The interlude part with dazzling and solid bass lines augmented with guitar effects and guitar solo that feature vocal is truly stunning. These two tracks should be enjoyed in its entirety. At the end of the track there is a sort guitar work that reminds me to Robert Fripp's guitar style. Overall, these two tracks are excellent.

Roulette Dares (The Haunt of) (7:31) opens with sound loops accompanied by drum's high-hat sounds. The nuance of this opening reminds me to DREAM THEATER's "The Great Debate" track from "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" album. Drum betas bring the music in hard driving energy music followed with abrupt change into quiet passage with melodic vocal part. That's actually how this song is composed, it comprises with many surprises in terms of styles and tempos that make this song is truly progressive. The only problem - if you think so, because I don't have a problem at all - is probably the noisy distorted guitar sounds with weird vocal quality in high register notes. The electric guitar solo at the end of the track reminds me to MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND music. Stunning! I like how the band approach the composition of this song. BTW, this song has many catchy segments produced by vocal, guitar and even bass guitar.

Tira Me a las Arañas (1:29) is basically the band's exploration / experimentation of guitar fills and sound effects. It flows seamlessly to a latin rock kind of music that remarks the entrance of Drunkship of Lanterns (6:20) in an uplifting tempo with percussion plays dominant role as rhythm section. Electric guitar work provides excellent accentuation at the back with some solo. I admire the good vocal quality of its lead singer. His vocal may not favor wider audience because it's unusual, I think. This song has excellent interlude and Frippian guitar style in modern sound at the ending part of the track.

Eriatarka (7:06) is a mellow track with nice melody accentuated with a variety of sound effects at background. The music turns a little bit louder but still in the range where most people can bear it. It has a spacey transition piece followed with melodic singing part in the middle of the track. What follow is the change into more hard driving style and louder voice with more energetic vocals. The combination of bass lines and drum work is excellent. Overall, even though it sounds less complicated than previous tracks but this song has an excellent structure and variation in styles with some catchy segments.

Cicatriz ESP (12:29) Wow! What an excellent opening part with great drum beats and powerful vocals augmented with guitar solo at the background. The music flows with solid bass lines in uplifting mood. There is a spacey nuance break followed with higher register notes singing part. The guitar solo part is built around seventies style but with more distortion and effects. Hmm .. I like the part at approx min [4:10] when the music turns into bluesy style with STUNNING clean guitar melody plus some effects - but no distortion this time. It's truly a killing part here man! This wonderful part ends at approx min [06:00] when the keyboard effects fill the music in silent mode. Actually, this is an excellent part - but it's too long so that I get bored with this sound effects part. The ending part is another latin rock music with distorted guitar solo.

This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed (4:58) is a high energy track with fast tempo reminiscen of THE BEATLES. I like the quiet part with powerful bass lines and guitar fills featuring excellent vocal. This track combines distorted part and quiet part nicely.

Televators (6:19) is probably the most accessible track for most people as the song is built on acoustic based concept with nice electric guitar imposed on top of acoustic guitar work. The vocal combines low and high register notes nicely. It's the band's answer to rock ballad, I think.

Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt (8:42) concludes the album with an upbeat music with a singing style that is close to rap music but performed differently. I can sense the lead guitar solo that in some pieces are in the vein of Robert Fripp. In the middle of the track the music turns into a nice interlude where clean guitar work gives excellent solo with bass and percussion give the rhythm section. Another excellent track.

Overall, it's an excellent addition to any prog collection. There is only one caveat that may be useful for those who don't get used to heavy and abrupt music like this album: noise produced from distorted electric guitar. If you are OK with this, this album is definitely for you. Keep on proggin' .!!!

Yours progressively,

GW

The Mars Volta's debut studio album is one of the best albums of 2003 (if not the best), and it is as inventive and forward-thinking as their work has always been and will always be. Although I don't think it measures up to their next effort, Frances the Mute, which I gave an unquestionable 5 stars, this is still extremely worthwhile.

Most "pure" prog fans are extremely wary of this sub-genre. I was, so I understand where you may be coming from. But after I got Frances and spun it a bunch of times, I began to like it a lot, and then it hit home big time and I realized it was a masterpiece. I challenge everyone reading this review (if you're on this site, then you must like prog) to go out and get some TMV. And don't discard it after a first listen like I've seen many people do. Nothing angers me more than that in the prog music world. This is prog. You need to give it a chance to grow, so you can see what direction it's going.

Son Et Lumiere/Inertiatic ESP - This is TMV. The opening sound effects and Cedric's voice lay the way for the album to follow, and the guitar and drums explode shortly before entering Inertiatic ESP. The very opening verse of "Now I'm lost" is fantastic, with the keyboard chords soaring up and down behind it. The rest of the song basically follows in the same wake.

Roulette Dares - The first "longer," even "prog-sized" track on the album. The opening blasts you out of your seat, even though I wasn't particularly into it the first few times I listened. It's a slight grower, but it's good at the end. The album is kinda like that as a whole anyway. Give it time, and you'll realize it's power.

Tira Me A Las Aranas/Drunkship of Lanterns - Tira Me... is a nice little guitar piece. Every band has one or two of these, it's almost customary now... (Yes/Clap and Mood for a Day, ELP/Lucky Man, The Sage, From the Beginning, Still you Turn me on, etc., King Crimson/Peace - A Theme, Genesis/Horizons, Spock's Beard/Chatauqua, you get it.) But it accomplishes its goal very nicely and leads into Drunkship. The song indeed kicks off right away, and Cedric's vocals throughout the song I like. They take on a different element here, in a way.

Eriatarka - I absolutely love this song. Everything about it is amazing for me. Omar's guitar never stops, and the frantic drums of Jon Theodore are perfect. Also, one particular thing I love about this song... The "chorus," I guess you could call it, is done three times. The first two times, the guitar and drums go in, basically, intervals of three. The last time, however, it's all even throughout, with all the instruments jamming smoothly, with Cedric still sailing above.

Cicatriz ESP - "Do you recall his name..." The distorted vocals begin this frantic song, the longest on the album. The two RHCPs do a great job here. Frusciante would continue on after this album to do guitar work on Frances, and most notably, the song L'Via L'Viaquez. Flea, I believe, did all the bass work on this entire album. He would, of course, continue on Frances on the trumpet.

This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed - This song has one of my favorite parts on the whole album, when Cedric semi-wails "I've been waiting for so long, for something to.." etc. etc. I absolutely can't get enough of this song because of that alone. The rest, of course, is great is well, but that must get mentioned.

Televators - Totally laidback song. Kinda why I like it a lot. (Check out the video for this song, by the way.) It's crazy when Cedric sings "You should have seen, the curse that flew right by you", especially when the drums kick in afterwards. Definitely the most mellow song, but still amazing.

Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt - One heck of an album closer. I think the high point of the song is Cedric's overdubbed vocals. I think he has one of the best voices around anyway, but when there's two of him singing two different things, it's that much better. If it's one thing this band can do, it is to close out an album. Frances ends absolutely magnificently with the end of Cassandra Geminni, and this is no exception.

I can't stress the following enough. It's in my prog reviewer bio, it's here in this review, etc.: Give this genre and this band a chance. Don't shrug them off, thinking "They aren't prog, blah blah blah". I know prog inside and out, the I know the The Mars Volta are a progressive band. You must hear them to believe them, and hopefully appreciate them from there. I think this is a fantastic album, worth a listen from one and all. 4/5.

EDIT: Yeah. After listening to nothing but Volta for about 2 months now (getting ready for Amputechture and all), I've come to the realization that this album is beyond perfect. From Inertiatic to Cerpin Taxt, this is one of the most well-done, awe-inspiring works to arise since the late sixties. Anyone looking to open their mind to music should just buy Volta albums, starting with this one.

The MARS VOLTA are a refreshing breath of air in an industry that often fails to meet the music mark! The MARS VOLTA are a machination of members from other bands but the end result is truly unique and very original concept album. l call this progressive. "De-loused In The Comatorium" is 61 minute epic album which in the heart tells the strange story of a man who attempts suicide and ends up in a coma, travels through his own consciousness and, eventually, wakes up and rejects the physical world in favour of death. The MARS VOLTA is the genius of lead guitarist and song writer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez who managed to write 61 Mins of pure magic. Lead vocalist Cedric Bixler Zavala has a high powerful voice which fits the bombastic music quite well... high energy and poignant. Musically these guys get into some pretty crazy and complex moods and tempo shifts... moves from semi - erratic blistering sounds to slow mezmorizing interludes littered with sound effects and odd bits. As you can tell this album covers a lot of ground from KING CRIMSON'ish bursts and guitar work to abstract PORCUPINE TREE'ish space to the modern ulcerous themes of RADIOHEAD. No question this is one of the loudest recordings in my collection but I have acquired The MARS VOLTA taste now so no turning back. This is pretty much an essential album and will appeal to all music lovers who don't mind a few less spoonfuls of sugar in their coffee.

The Mars Volta may have turned some heads with their debut EP, Tremulant, but with their first full length effort, De-Loused in the Comatorium, they will be sure to grab everyone's attention. This album, written in honor of a lost friend, delivers some of the most innovative music ever produced, and is single handedly reviving the spirits of many who were feeling hopeless about new music. Fusing all kinds of styles with bizarre lyrics played/sung with unmatched fervor and perfection, The Mars Volta can not be overlooked.

The album opens with a mysterious, spacey bit. A subtle keyboard line fades in over swelling notes from guitarist Omar. Enter the new and improved Cedric. Singing a few lines with a light effect on his voice, you have no ideas what's about to strike. All of a sudden, the band explodes. A series of explosions follow, which are all varied slightly from the previous ones, to complete the intro track that is "Son et Lumiere," though it and the next track are one entity. "Inertiatic ESP" follows suite without hesitation. Cedric has never been better. His vocals are some of the best I've ever heard: tremendous range, strength and intensity. The rhythm section is relentless. Jon Theodore has overwhelming ability, and an inhuman endurance on the drums; I don't know how he does it. I sit here already mesmerized at what I have just heard, and I have only heard one song!

"Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" traverses through manic verses, melodic choruses and mellow, jazzy improvisations. There is even an instrumental section in free- time. This isn't just a simple, ambient segment, it is a full on jam. We'll find the band doing similar things throughout the album.

After the short acoustic riffing and haunting effects in "Tira Me a las Arañas," The Mars Volta breaks out into the frenzied "Drunkship of Lanterns." This song is characterized by a distinct Latin feel, with a fantastic breakdown, that is used a couple of times, and at the end is mixed up with a different beat, which opens the floor to the outlandish guitar work of Omar.

"Eriatarka" features a fluctuating verse and chorus, and everything else about The Mars Volta that makes them great: stunning melodies, eccentric rhythms, etc. In short, a great song.

"Cicatriz ESP," at 12:28, is the longest track on the album. The simple, yet powerful instrumental work provides the background for Cedric's extraordinary vocals during the verse, and burst out during the chorus. The simple, yet powerful chorus line of "I've Defected" is brilliant, and who better to drive that line than Cedric. Several jams are apparent in this song, which are aided by John Frusciante. The first flows directly from the chorus, and after mellowing down, goes into a few minutes of ambience and noise. Percussion starts to build up and next thing you know, you're in the middle of a Santana-esque segment. A final verse and chorus (this time with some layered vocals) end this fantastic song.

"This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed" is the album's shortest song, but it holds well with the rest of them.

"Televators" is the album's ballad, if you can call it that, and a beautiful ballad it is.

The album ends with "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt." This song is all over the place, condensing a lot of the styles heard earlier into one final blast. The album ends leaving the listener in total awe of what they have just heard.

In short, this album is perfect, in every possible way. I find it difficult to conjure up my feelings about this album in words. It is just incredible beyond expression. They delivered on the potential they displayed with their debut EP, and then some. It is, without question, one of the greatest albums in all of time.

Yesterday, I picked up my daughter from school and had this CD in the changer. I said to my 7 year-old, 'Daddy's going to play a song. It's weird, but I like it alot.' My daughter said, 'Okay'. So I proceeded to play "Drunkship Of Lanterns". My daughter didn't say a word, until we reached home when she said, "Dad, thats crazy music!" I laughed. Later, we met my wife at a local TGIF's for dinner. On the way there I played, "Eratarka". This time she told me, "That was a good song, Daddy." I smiled. On the way home after dinner I went to turn the CD on when my daughter said, "Put on the second song." If my 7 year-old daughter who likes Kelly Clarkson and all the other pop singers can sit and enjoy The Mars Volta, I can't see how anyone who visits this site and enjoys music that is not commercial in any way wouldn't come away thinking after listening to this CD that it's a bonefide modern masterpiece....well....there's always Madonna....;-P

My first tast of The Mars Volta was watching the video to the song Televaters. Now I have to say that I wasnt into prog at the time and this didnt seem like my thing so I (mistakenly) didnt pay it any atention, just thinking they were another of these rubish pop bands, or whatever. But, before the release of their second album Francis the Mute, I heard that they were being called a prog group (though vehmenently denied by the band) that makes full use of jazzr rhythms and spacy passages in their music. I just had to get an ear in on these guys. And boy, am I glad that I did.

On first listen it is quite obviouse that in the prog world they have an extremely unique sound, though I have never heard Cedric and Omar's preceeding band At The Drive-In so I dont know how much of the sound came from there. What you get is a huge contrast; bombastic playing that asaults the senses and challenges you to pay attention, to slow atmospheric electronic "noises" that let you catch your breath and drift away before they build up again. Personally I feel that they got the right mix between ambient and all out rock that helps to define this album. The only exception is that they may have had just a bit to much ambient in the song Cicatrez Esp as it starts to drag on for me. Thankfully, just when I'm beginning to wish that theyd pick up again they do.

As a band well known for their on stage improvisations, they certanly give the feeling that, to an extent, they are makeing it up as they go along and hopeing that it all works out. However the rhythem section of Jon Theodore and Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) is so tight and grounded there's no room left for uneccessary self indulgence. Speaking of the rythem section Jon Theodore proves to be one of the most impressive drummers I have ever heard, and his playing gives bassist Flea the freedome to back up the guitars perfectly.

Lyricly is were this album tends to fall down for some people, its extremely dense. For those that dont know this is a concept album but the concept is so impossible to follow from the lyrics that you have to download a 12 page essay from the net that goes through the story! Personally I tend to ignore the story of this album because even with the essay's help its very difficult to understand and instead I try to concentrate on Cedrics voice, which can prove to be an aquired taste but I like it.

I have the UK special edition release that includes the bonus track Ambuletz. This song does nothing for me as it seems to be mainly ambient with a repetative beat. Its far too long and makes for a huge anti-climax after the story has finished on the impressive Take the Vale Cerpin Taxt.

There are few flaws to this album and in Roulette Dares (the Haunt Of...), Eriatarka, Cicatriz ESP, Televators and Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt, The Mars Volta have created four songs that are sure to become modern classics. In fatc, it would be fair to say that the whole album can be considered a modern classic, 5 stars.

Art Lives.

What an amazing debut, even though technically it's not a debut. This album put The Mars Volta on the map and gave them mainstream media rage. The best category for what's found here is progressive punk. The punk carries over from some of the members previous band, At the Drive in. This isn't an ATDI clone, but a totally different band with many thrilling and entertaining ideas on song structure and where sounds should and should not go.

Certainly not a conventional album, De-loused offers a little bit of something for most everybody. Packed with explosive energy at some points, and offering a broad range of emotions and feelings, this concept album gives us something very original and unique. This is the band at their most creative and inspirational stage, and leaving all of it at the studio.

Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt is still, after consideration, one of my favorite modern songs that's just as powerful as any song ever crafted; it's just sheer genius. A wonderful closer to an already excellent record. This album also shares many inklings to King Crimson in style, artistic content, and class.

My favorite TMV album, and an extremely strong and worthy album. If you didn't like other TMV efforts, try this, their most energetic and powerful release. Putting prog back on the mainstream map in a new way.

Probably my favouritest release from the year 2003 and from the band as well. I remember watching the "Televators" video and noticing The MARS VOLTA's name the next day on the Archives! The album's opening makes me insane; I'm dancing to their music like a wild shaman; even when I listen to this CD with my headphones on, I'm moving to the music I listen to..."Eriatarka", "Cicatriz ESP", "Drunkship of Lanterns", "Inertiatic ESP" and the haunting "Televators" are the highlights of this incredible CD.This is a huge Musical Step forward, and THE MARS VOLTA are really the pioneers of Modern Prog (or how to call this mixture of genres?)

Highly recommended to everyone: try this one before the others, and you won't regret!

This album was not my first experience with TMV - on the strength of some very positive reviews, some months before I'd bought "Frances the Mute", which I liked a lot on first listening, though later on I came to see its shortcomings somewhat more clearly. However, "Deloused in the Comatorium", the Hispano-American band's debut full-length album, is quite a different story. This is truly a groundbreaking record that sets new standards for contemporary prog.

Hate them or love them, it is hard to deny that The Mars Volta (brilliant name for a prog band, anyway) are progressive in the true sense of the word. Born from the ashes of emo band At The Drive-in, they are not afraid to take elements from such disparate genres as prog, punk, metal, jazz and Latin music and blend them together, stamping their individual seal over the end result in the process. Their display of dazzling musicianship, left-field lyrical concepts, stunning cover art and no-holds-barred songwriting are the hallmarks of a first-rate outfit that's ready to take prog - that stereotypically earnest, stuck-in-a-time-warp musical genre - right into the 21st century.

Most of the tracks on this album are over the 5-minute mark, with "Cicatriz Esp" clocking in at over 12 minutes - another statement of intent on the part of the band, who are unashamed fans of such historic Seventies prog acts as Rush and King Crimson. However, even if their original punk roots rear their heads every now and then, it is never in a really obtrusive way. If anything, these punk roots add a measure of spice to the exotic mixture that is TMV's sound. The musicianship is first-rate throughout, with a special mention for inventive, powerful drummer Jon Theodore, whose rythmic sparring partner is on this occasion a very special guest, RHCP's Flea (one of the best four-stringers on the market, even if you don't like his mother band). The crisp, clear production values further enhance Theodore's intricate, occasionally explosive drumming, as it is quite evident right from the very beginning, in killer opener "Inertiatic ESP" (preceded by the deceptive quiet of "Son and Lumière).

In my personal opinion, though, the real strength of TMV lies in the supercharged vocals of Cedric Bixler-Zavala, whose banshee wail interspersed with more reflective, almost lyrical moments exemplifies what a really expressive singing style is all about. A richer, fuller version of Geddy Lee, he stamps his mark all over the album, perfectly complemented by his partner in crime (and former At the Drive In fellow member) Oscar Rodriguez Lopez's wildly atmospheric guitar playing. Unlike they did in follow-up "Frances the Mute", here the band keep the use of weird, electronic noises to a minimum, with epic "Cicatriz ESP" 's middle section being a prime example of how such noises can be used sparingly to their maximum effect.

With such a strong album, it would be difficult for me to pick any standout tracks, apart from those I have already mentioned. Haunting ballad "Televators" is a much better effort in this sense than "The Widow" on FtM; while "Eriatarka", "This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed" and album closer "Take the Veil, Cerpin Taxt" brim with energy and freshness, Cedric's brilliant vocals soaring above the band's unleashed instrumental fury.

I pondered for a long time, and listened to the album twice before writing this review - but, in the end, I could not help but decide to give this album the highest rating, as others have done before me. Weird it may be, but nothing short of wonderful as well - this is prog for the 21st century, a must-listen for all serious proggers. A wild ride perhaps, but one to enjoy to the fullest.

4.5 stars.It's been three years since they released this record and the buzz still hasn't subsided.THE MARS VOLTA really struck a cord with many music lovers,combining elements of punk to progressive music.To many people though all they struck was a nerve.I think they deserve all the accolades that are directed their way though,as they introduced something different, that is truly progressive and modern.And i think they are a gateway for a lot of people getting into prog music.The hardest thing for me to get into is the vocals.They can be annoying,like when he holds the note and twists it and turns it and takes it out to dinner.And the guitar can be rather unmelodic but Omar does that on purpose and i like it,he's also a huge Fripp fan.He once said he like to play the guitar in a way that hurts the ears.It's all about dissonance.We get mellotron on three tracks and Flea from THE RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS plays all the bass parts. "Son Et Lumiere" is a short intro track where sounds build,lots of atmosphere here.Vocals come in before it ends.It kicks in late and blends into "Inertiatic Esp".Check out the guitar in this one! I like the sound after 2 minutes as the drums pound and the guitar becomes inventive.Vocals aren't as harsh either.Fripp-like guitar late. "Roulette Dares(The Haunt Of)" kicks in quickly and stays uptempo and frenzied for the most part although those sections are contrasted with calm passages at times.Angular guitar after 2 1/2 minutes and the drums are relentless.Check out the mellotron,bass and guitar when it settles right down 5 1/2 minutes in.Nice. "Tira Me A Las Aranas" is a short haunting and experimental piece.I like it. "Drunkship Of Lanterns" kicks in right away with drums as vocals and guitar join in.A very intense tune.An all out blitz 5 minutes in with angular guitar. "Eriatarka" opens with machine gun-like drums before settling down into a psychedelic vibe.The tempo continues to change.A freaky ending. "Cicatriz Esp" is the longest track at 12 1/2 minutes.How amazing does the guitar sound after 2 minutes.A psychedelic calm 6 minutes in that lasts over 3 minutes then the song kicks back in with some great sounding guitar. "This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed" sounds pretty strange to open before the vocals come in.I like when it calms down.Contrasts continue. "Televators" takes a while to get going but that's ok because i love how this sounds.A very cool track. "Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt" is my favourite,it kicks in quickly but check out the majestic mellotron 3 minutes in when it settles.Gulp.Then these Fripp-like guitar melodies come in followed by drums.Amazing sound 5 minutes in.So melodic and beautiful.It kicks in after 7 minutes. In many ways this is brilliant.So inventive and progressive.So many ideas went into this.I applaud them.

Well although I had heard fairly soon of this band's debut (like almost everyone I heard mainstream rock medium speaking about prog in a different tone for the first time in decades), I had to wait for the second album's release to get a shot at listening to this album. Soafter being repulsed by their second album, I decided to give a shot to their first one, hoping it would hold more clues to dig the band. Well not really! The least we can say is that TMV does bring something a bit different to the usual prog mainstream, but it is not easy to pinpoint exactly what they bring. One can't say that their sound is brand new: they borrow quite a bit from many previous groups, but surely manage their own sound and even a bit of originality, something rather difficult in an era where everything's been done 1000 times before (or almost), but this is done at the expense of a sort on continuity, their music being extremely eclectic.

What TMV does in this first album is mix influences from Yes, Crimson, Rush with more modern groups like Porcupine Tree's impenetrability, Spock's Beard's extreme wide spectrum and excellent execution of the music and a touch of Radiohead's paranoiac emotive mental states fuelled by Yorke's frustration ulcers while keeping a 90's funk- punk energy that is obviously induced by the RHCP. Yes, this makes TMV's music rather abstract and the fact that this is yet another concept album on mental derivations, deviations and the accompanying stages of anguish, anxiety, depression, alienation and finally completely recess from reality leading to suicide (well coma before a second more successful attempt) is not fundamentally convincing. Yet there are many good if not excellent traits to this album and this debut is possibly one of those rare albums that should be held as truly inventive and influential in its decade. Another rather discouraging hint is the Rick Rubin (I am NOT a fan) production slapped on the back of the album, but all these "ifs, buts, how and since" do not manage to hide the intrinsic qualities of this debut.

While there are some tracks that are relatively hard to digest because of their voluntarily noisy and energetic quagmire: Inertiatic ESP and Apparatus (hate the vocal effect) being the two loudest tracks on the album and for no apparent good reasons except to show that the band can reach such levels of intensity, but fortunately those tracks are among the shortest (the separate intros excepted) on the album. But there are some much more convincing tracks like the concept's centrepiece Cicatriz - where the "hero" comes out of the coma - (and its psyched-out lengthy guitar passage), Roulette Dares (and its wild middle instrumental sections), Drunkship Of Lanterns (difficult start, but smooths out nicely), Eriatarka, the calmer Televators and the sometimes brilliant finale Cerpin Taxt.

Among the features of the group is the bass/drum combo, which can sound like Bruford/Levin but also like RHCP's wild rhythm section. Omar's guitar work is maybe less prominent than on TMV's follow-up but remains very noticeable, while the unsung hero is definitely Isaiah Owens, very subtle yet defining much of their sound and often underlining the ultra-powerful passages with delicate layers of synths. The fact that the album's story is really closely related to a member of the group not only push the group beyond their reasonable limits and boosts the loudness a bit excessively, but in their case, they come out of it successfully. By the time you reach the album, there will be a sense of saturation and tiredness, because some of theit typical twists come back a little too regularly.

Although this album requires all the respect from every proghead, it will probably be always a controversial album, because of its flaws and "baroque" leanings on almost every sphere of music. While there are some albums that pride themselves of not letting you win them too easily, on the other hand there are countless modern prog albums who hide their lack of depth with obscure unexplained concepts and difficult music and impenetrable presentation. But I am rather sure that this is not the case with TMV. I think that at least everyone should spin this album once or twice a day for a week before eventually rejecting it (Cedric's voice is an acquired taste), because it does take a few listens to surrender its secrets, but unlike many of its actual competition, it does so fairly quickly. Maybe because it has enough depth to allow it

This is a pretty damn good album, considering its placement in time far from the golden days of prog. Once upon a time I caught 'De-Loused In The Comatorium' in the background, and heard something really quite interesting... heavy guitar riffing and wailing rock vocals that usually would not grab my attention at all, but somehow in this continuous barrage of noise there was something unique and compelling. A memory of something quite disturbing, of great energy, stayed with me until I decided to pick up the album for myself and explore further.

It wasn't too long until De-Loused was getting a daily airing. I found the album to be a fairly strong musical journey, unlike anything I'd heard before. Musically, the guitar playing especially is inspiring, incredibly fluid and constantly varying in style and texture, and the heavy metal riffing sound I originally identified turned out to be only one colour used well within the overall painting. There are many soft moments here, too, that blend naturally with the aggressive without any stink of contrivance. Lyrically I was also very intrigued by the half-adventure story, half-abstract wordplay, which works well as an instrument in itself along with the music. Quickly I began to find more subtle qualities to Bixler-Zavala's vocals, and to appreciate both the clarity of his tone - consistent regardless of how much he darts maniacally around his range - and the clever effects used to grant more ear-bending variations on the delivery of his lines. There is thus a genderless, alien aspect to his singing on this album, combined with an unusual sense of melody that rarely relies just on phrasing along with the rest of the rhythm section. The bass, drums and keyboards also play crucial parts in each track, and display similar energy in their own ways.

The result of an hour riding this vicious onslaught is serious mental exhaustion. In its own right - that is, without the accompanying storybook available on the net - there is next to no narrative cohesion here, and instead De-Loused invites the listener to a restless banquet of skewed, abstract impressions and emotions, all piled upon one another and demanding submission to the febrile, demented viewpoint. The effect is the feeling of looking into the mouth of madness, being dragged mercilessly down the rabbithole, and thus to some extent The Mars Volta have succeeded in a rare depiction of an extended human dream/nightmare state.

In Mars Volta first album, progressive rock alarged its horizons. They fused brightly the unthinkable concerning progressive rock: punk. Well, actually, not punk in its essence form, but its stereotypes towards music - don't get me wrong, this in no way resembles a trivial hard-core or mainstream punk disc. Adding that, some jazzy textures and latin taste, blended with psychadelia and Cedric Bixler-Zavala afro-caribbean-reggae style of singing, the result is somewhat revolutionary.

The music is full of transitions, the energetic combination of modern distorted guitar interplaying is almost always present, along with vocalist emotional singing (though not all may like it). Mellower feeled parts, where even space for sullen guitar solos, are also present, mixed with explosions of energetic emotion, as in "Roulette Dares". Latin influences, specially rythmically are present in "Tira Me a Las Aranas" and "Drunkship of Lanterns". In this last, some psychadelic elements are also found, creating distorted ambiences. Once more, psychadelia is found in "Eriatarka" making remember Pink Floyd's Ummagumma."The Apparatus Must be Unearthed" shows perhaps the catchiest melody, in the vein of the first tracks. In fact, the band does not seem to be trouble in creating catchy melodies or instrumental passages as well. "Cicatriz ESP" is the one which resembles more to progressive rock classics, due mainly to its length and a little more conservative approach of their style, allied with some remmant clasic keyboards. The result seems a great voyage to the core of past in the meandres of a revolurionaty style. The mellow "Televators" leads to the album conclusion with "Take the Veil Carpin Taxt", another energetic well achieved song, one of the best, mixing a bit of all, in a heavy-riff oriented manner.

The creative aspect of the band is undoubtfully evident as their ambition, reinventing progressive rock. May not be for all, but still the band's credit must be recognized. Once more progressive rock sees new horizons, since the post-rock revolution. Masterpiece.

Oh boy, this is not for everybody.

Even for the experienced progger who went thru some tough cookies (Gentle Giant or Anglagard) this is still a challenge for some.

This is a very bombastic album with a strange psychedelia aura and jammed pack with ideas. This is clearly not a band that will be accused of plagiarism because the song structure is sooo weird (if not mechanically insane), you think you're in front of a UFO or someone spiked your beer with a strong LSD cap.

Apart from the huge amount of insanity, there's still moments of (relative) calm with some nice chorus and a certain FM potential in some cases. Being in support of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and System of a Down, you can trace some influences of those two bands in some tiny spots. Also, something cannot be towed away is the nice effort done by the drummer who gives his snare a hard time, killing the poor thing many times in the same song (like Inertiatic or Cicatriz). But to me, the ultimate proof of originality is clearly the vocals. Something like Dalbello mated with Bjork, with long and soaring calls from a throat that must be begging for a honey lozenge after.

This is a big and orgiac amount of insanity topped with a thick punk-funk-psychedelic frosting.

Man this is hard to get into.

One of the more encouraging signs of life for Prog Rock in the early 21st Century is the growing popularity, against any reasonable expectation, of the Mars Volta, a difficult band with an uncompromising musical vision and a fan base stretching from hardcore metal heads to psychedelic warlords to seekers of genuine off-the-wall weirdness. Talk about crossover appeal: I first heard of them myself in the otherwise decidedly mainstream pages of my local daily paper (The Buffalo News, hardly in the vanguard of cutting edge cultural journalism, but lucky to at least employ one first-rate music writer).

There's no easy way to become acquainted with The Mars Volta. But in retrospect, being introduced to the band through their sophomore album "Frances the Mute" was not unlike learning how to swim by jumping headfirst into a shark-infested whirlpool. By comparison, their 2003 debut album "De-loused in the Comatorium" sounds almost (but not quite) normal, which may explain its higher overall rating here at Prog Archives.

Be forewarned, however: to the uninitiated the album is no less outrageous than its successors, presenting a unique blend of hyperactive metal and psychedelic salsa that has to be heard to be believed. This is clearly a band ahead of its time, but here the music sounds more like a rough sketch of something still a few years away from its fullest realization, with more conventional instrumentation and only limited use of the studio wizardry that would characterize their later efforts.

The music and lyrics (sung in a sometimes frantic mix of English and Spanish) are thick with arcane symbolism and surrealist imagery, as even a token glance at the CD cover art should no doubt make plain. And in true Prog Rock fashion there is (of course) a concept behind it all, with a web-link in the CD booklet to the presumably official explanation, for anyone bold enough to venture that far.

But the music, by itself, should pose enough of a challenge for newcomers like me. Consider The Mars Volta a test of your Prog credentials. At the very least you'll succeed in clearing the room of any unwanted guests; and at best you might just be turned on to some exciting new music, which ought to be the goal of any self- respecting Progger.

This, asa lot of you may know, is hailed to be THE Mars Volta album by the majority of their fans. I don't entirely agree with that sentiment, as I do prefer Frances The Mute, but nevertheless, it is still a masterpiece. No-one before (as far as I know) had achieved the style of music that is generated within the dark, creative brain of Omar Rodrigeuz-Lopez, and the only band that came close in my opinion was his previous outfit At The Drive In, a non-prog band. Having said this, you can pretty much imagine the impact this had on the prog scene. And what's more, they pretty much came out of thin air. Yes, admittedly they had released an EP beforehand, but it didn't even touch this standard of music so it went pretty much unrecognised globally. However, when this album exploded onto the prog scene at the very beginning of the 2000s, it printed their name solidly in its vast hall pf fame. Indeed, this is a very special album.

I will actually do a track by track of De-Loused In The Comatorium, ommitting the filler number which I can't even pronounce the name of. Hopefully though, you will get the idea of how good this album truly is.

Son et Lumiere / Intertiatic ESP -

An unusual title I'm sure you'll agree, but not that unusual a song. These two songs in my mind count as one for me, as neither of them work without the other. Furthermore, I will go and say outright that this is one of the best openers in ALL modern music, let alone the modern prog scene. It has most things that Volta fans love: creepy quiet, effects laiden sections, loud choruses with a lot of kick, a huge jam section and a kind of modest technicality about it. If you love this song, then you will love the rest of the album. Simple. Not everyone's cup of tea mind (it is very manic through and through), but very enjoyable if you are into the general craziness of the band. Brilliant.

Roullette Dares (This Is The Haunt Of) -

Don't have a clue what the tital means, neither do I care. Admittedly, this is my least favourite song on the album, but one saving grace is the drumming and guitaring. Omar is definitely in 6th gear on this one and goes all out with inventive soloing and fast riffs. Jon Theodore, in similar vein, dishes out some of the most incredible drumlines I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. This song just proves to me how much of an underappreciated musician he really is.

Drunkship Of Lanterns -

Complete change in texture as we are introduced to the bands pseudo-Latin style. Fast paced, no doubt about it, but this one is slightly gentler than it's two previous. Nevertheless, it is still insane. Be warned. It's also worth noting that this is one of the Volta's least accessible songs (to me anyway), but it is definitely well worth the plunge. You will soon see what I'm talking about when the climatic bridge kicks in, and it also shows off their technical side once again, with some clever tuplet play.

Eriatarka -

One of my favourites. This is an emotional journey that sends you through numerous quiet sections, dazzlingly chaotic louder sections and once again, a sprinkle of technicality that is definitely there, but not in any way pretntious or bombastic. Cedric's vocals are worth mentioning on here as well, as he sings those high notes the best he has ever really done in my opinion. This could be perceived as a ballad, but it also contains a lot of carnage within. It is that schizophrenic. Once again, Jon Theodore. The man is actually a monster, and I cannot even fathom it possible to play the beat in the chorus.

Cicatriz ESP -

I'm sure I speak for a lot of fans of the band here when I say that this is the tune that got me into TMV in the first place. It could be because it's got the best heavy latin jams of all time after the effects section, or it could be because the riff is so simple, yet so addictive (a bit of trivia actually, they borrowed this same riff from an At The Drive In Song; I can't remember the name, but if you listen to their material you will know where I'm coming from). It could also be a combination of the two. Either way, this is a masterpiece, and Ikey really knows how to play tastefully, as evident in the bit after the second chorus. Easily the most accessible song on the album, and maybe even their most accessible in general. If you are new to the band, then I'd head for either this song or L'via L'viaquez, as they are the first two I truly got into. And as for the lengthy middle effects section? Just enjoy it for what it is. A calm before the storm. For me, it gives the final half of the song so much more impact.

This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed -

This, unfortunately, is the only TMV song I don't listen to anymore, and could never get into. If I were to discard a track, it would undoubtedly be this one, not because it's bad or anything, but because it brings absolutely nothing new to the table. I suspect this was their "single" attempt, as it is quite mainstream based (aside from the remaining dissonance and Cedric's unusual vocals). I'm not going to comment on it really, as there is not much to comment on. You may enjoy it, but I personally don't.

Televators -

This is the greatest acoustic TMV song to listen to. It is perfect. It brings you in gently and the melodies really sore, I cannot remember a time where I didn't get goosebumps off of the haunting chorus. This is also in my hall of fame for being the most romantic song about suicide I have ever heard. If you don't think that Cedric Bixler-Zavala has a beautiful voice then quickly put on this song, kick back and you will soon change your mind. That is, in fact, the only way I can describe this tune: beautiful. And maybe even the highlight of the album. Who knows, but this is unskippable. I even think it tops the lush Miranda from Frances The Mute.

Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt -

A fan favourite, and possibly the greatest ever closer (aside from the end bit from Cassandra Gemini). Everything you have heard on the album is magnified and crammed into 8 minutes of pure genius. Omar's guitar playing kind of reminds me a bit of Fripp's playing, especially in the technical section (which by the way, shouldn't be taken lightly as it is as technical as even Atheist's material, maybe even more). The jam section also includes Chili Peppers' bassist Flea, and he does a mighty fine job of funking it up a bit. All of a sudden you are hit with a final chorus and then the phenomenal ending, which is so abrupt you actually end up saying to yourself "what the f***" out loud.

Nothing more that I can say about this album that hasn't already been said, but I will evaluate. This is by no means a light hearted album, and even less accessible, but if you are a fan of chaotic, emotionally complex, unusual and overall intense music, then I suggest you give this masterpiece a spin. It is well written, tight when it needs to be, but eases off with guitar effects when it needs to also. I don't think any album can compare to the general atmosphere of DITC, which is dark a melancholic but in the same way a very fun listen. It's very hard to explain, but even though the lyrics are utterly nonsensical and the titals incomprehendable, they do portray the theme of the album very well and you do seem to visualise some bizarre imagery. Not in the lyrics, but in the musical devices, example: the falling feeling at the end of Televators. In conclusion, I would recommend anyone into modern prog to give this baby a try. It is in the top 100 albums of all time for a reason! No doubt about it for me, 5 stars, a masterpiece of progressive music, only a hair's breadth away from the quality of Frances The Mute.

If you think prog died, think again.

The Mars Volta may sound nothing like prog bands of old, but they share far more in common with them than any retro band can claim. When I heard "Inertiatic ESP" I had much the same response as the first time I heard "21st Century Schizoid Man." The same sense of "What is this?", "This changes everything." was there. The Mars Volta draw heavily from their punk days as At The Drive-In for De-loused and combine it with a genuine progressive approach toward song-writing. The result sounds nothing like At The Drive- In but retains all the punkish, explosive energy of it.

This is a highly emotive album thanks greatly to Cedric's brilliant vocals and psychotic lyrics of a drug-induced Alice In Wonderland landscape. Once could hardly ask for better musicianship that impresses throughout without ever becoming something people could label as showing off. I especially like the spacey and near-noise effects Omar generates from his guitar alongside his Fripp influenced playing. You'll hear bits and pieces of punk, Latin, and salsa music throughout, but at no point will it aid you in drawing a comparison to anything else.

Love or hate this album deserves your respect.

The most sophisticated noise.

This album was my "first contact" with a modern prog - whatever is hidden behind that tag...

I must say a few things. First of all, I heard a sample or two of THE MARS VOLTA before, and I didn't like it all; it sounded like a cold, emotionless, somewhat-complex, poppish-polished music for the hungry dumb masses who will appreciate anything masked under "alternative"...don't be one of them! That's disgusting! That was my opinion. However, after the myriads of positive reviews from the progressive rock fans worldwide, I decided to give these guys another chance...and I'm glad I did! This album is a killer.

However, there are few points where I disagree with the majority of the reviewers and I have to get the world out - but they are by no means a negative criticism.

Well, I'm not familiar with the rest of the band's material (although I promised myself I shall be), but , judging by this one, this is not progressive rock in my ears. Evolving, boundaries-pushing, progressive in a way "looking forward", unheard before (well, yes and no), quite so...but not groundbreaking - not if you examine any of these items separately.

There's nothing breathtakingly new or radical on this album.

But, it's overall picture what counts. It's just a damn good rock album, maybe one of the best modern rock album I've heard in years. An old cliche - "much more than sum of its parts" fits here perfectly.

There are few renditions of progressive rock - keyboard layers, sound effects noodling, Floydian solos. A oomph of extra bar or two in a time-signature here and there. Dissonant chords, occasionally.

And lots of noisy rock.

And it all works p e r f e c t l y . This beast is compact, homogeneous and powerful. The dynamic range of this band is scary. Sudden bursts of dissonant, monstrous chords, just after the whispering. Another thing that must be mentioned is production. There were loads of digital studio editing, processing, producing...and loads of killing guitar stomp boxes intelligently used, surely. A new art form is developed: a clever usage of sound effects. Like all the noise is not enough, your ears are in pain, sound-speakers are suffering and alerting with peak LED's, and on the top of all that there's a tiny ring modulator added - - just to add an extra spice to the your ears' agony. Sweet. Echoes, stereo delays, reverbs, flangers - they had been all used very cleverly - it will took you more than a dozen of careful listening to figure out some things.

As of songs themselves, they are energetic, melodic, sending shivers down the spine, they're keeping you interested and focused. There are no outstanding technicians here (at least not by my book), but they' re all good and they all sound sincere. A heavy mix of alternative rock, modern metal, Latinoamerican music works well.

I guess this album will become the milestone of rock music in a same way as LED ZEPPELIN's debut became decades ago. As I said, there's nothing breathtakingly new here, but the noise and the art are together raised on a new level.

My only complaint about this albums is its length. It's too long, and, unfortunately, not all the songs are on the same level. After 50 minutes or so listening become tedious, not because of constant amount of noise and dissonant, prolonged parts, but because last three or four songs are simply not on the same level as the rest of the album.

That's the curse of a digital era and a 70+ minutes album lengths and it's a shame. This one is so close to the masterpiece status. However, it's still essential and it will remain so in a forthcoming years.

'De-loused in the Comatorium' is THE MARS VOLTA'S first album. Parts of it are satisfying and sublime beyond belief, others are obscure and frustrating. Nobody claimes to enjoy every moment. But this album is every bit as much a marker of progressive rock as 'In The Court of the Crimson King' or any other iconic album you care to name. You cannot consider compiling a progressive rock collection without making this album one of your choices.

What is it like? THE MARS VOLTA have a sound all of their own. We are told a good review compares the band under discussion with other artists, but no comparison will give the neophyte an adequate idea of what they might experience when listening to this. So let me try to tell you what to expect.

The music is frenetic, polyrythmic and complex. The first impression the album makes on the new listener is a wall of noise, which distils into heavy rock, post-punk, latin and jazz rhythms, underscored by CEDRIC BIXLER-ZAVALA'S high-pitched vocals. Staccato machine-gun rhythms explode then cease, to be replaced by periods of lyrical beauty. Moments of spine-tingling brilliance are revealed. On repeated listens the songs assume their personalities, and the rationale for what at first sounded odd gradually becomes clear. Finally, the listener can examine the overarching concept that brings cohesiveness to the album.

So, clearly, this is an album that must be listened to a number of times. Some albums are front-loaded: their musical message is transparent and easily accessible. GAZPACHO'S 'Night' is one such. These albums have their place. This is at the other end of the spectrum. Once you've spent your money and had a listen - and suffered the almost inevitable confusion and disappointment - please persevere.

There are sublime moments here ranking equal with the very highest in popular music history. The enigmatic opener 'Son et Lumiere' builds nicely, clearly serving as an introduction to an important track (only important tracks get their own introduction) , the rapid-fire drumbursts signaling the transition to the magnificent, deeply emotional 'Inertiatic ESP'. There's more progressiveness in this first five minutes than in the whole careers of many formulaic progressive artists (some of the second-tier British, Italian and Scandinavian artists come to mind). 'Inertiatic ESP' is the album's first single, a fearsome tidal wave of noise - 'Now I'm lost,' BIXLER-ZAVALA sings, four lines of subtle variation - with THE MARS VOLTA, nothing's ever done the same way twice. Here we are introduced to the triple assault of this band: the vocalist, with a fearsome range and staggering falsetto; the guitarist, who plays at a million miles an hour, yet without the cold, clinical air of technical proficiency - far more like PAGE than PETRUCCI - and the drummer, whose latin/Haitian rhythms always astonish the listener expecting the normal fare of plodding timekeeping and predictable fills.

And then the album climbs a notch! 'Roulette Dares' is magnificent: I was hooked the moment I heard BIXLER-ZAVALA sing 'Spector will lurk / Radar has gathered / Midnight neuces from boxcar cadavers'. No, I don't know what it means, nor am I sure those are the correct lyrics. But the vocalist has this talent of being able to arrest the listener. Then OMAR RODRIGUEZ rips out a killer riff to introduce the chorus, a THE MARS VOLTA classic.

There are many other moments like this spread throughout the record. 'Drunkship of Lanterns' and 'Cicatriz ESP' are widely regarded as seminal new millenium prog, but I'll make special mention of 'Televators', a softer, chilling track and the second single. Here THE MARS VOLTA prove they can do beautiful just as sucessfully as they do majesty. And the extra line in the last chorus is pure genius.

There are awkward moments. The electronic section of 'Cicatriz' seems inexpertly grafted into the song, and 'Take The Veil' suffers similarly. No album is perfect, and there are other who find these moments essential. For music like this, I'll forgive a few odd moments.

It's so very hard to write a balanced review of a record you find yourself thoroughly enjoying, but I hope I've succeeded in showing you this record - and this band - can generate passion and something akin to awe.

Never have heard such harsh, frantic, intense, savagely creative rock sound so amazing... "De-Loused" is SPECTACULAR! Maybe it's the vocal gymnastics and manic lyrics screamed/crooned out by frontman Bixler-Zavala, or Rodriguez-Lopez's innovative guitar work, or the rhythmic backflips from the drums/bass... or any of the multitude of stellar sounds I go on to discover after each listen.

In reality it's the sum of all the parts which makes "De-Loused" so much fun to listen to; the members of Mars Volta are master musicians and song writers concealed behind walls of hard rock which have (somehow... given there eccentricity) given them mainstream status. Everything from the intense choruses to the spacey interludes screams innovation. This music is some of the most creative stuff I've ever heard, and I cannot recommend it more highly to any who has not already discovered it.

As a side-note, I'd also like to point out the outstanding keyboard work of Owens, which seems to be largely ignored when Bixler/Rodriguez are doing their thing; his organ adds a delicious jazzy touch for a few moments and adds a lot of texture to the mix.

Songwriting: 5 Instrumental Performances: 5 Lyrics/Vocals: 5 Style/Emotion/Replay: 5

One of the best prog albums of the 21st century.

De-loused in the Comatorium is a concept album centering around the death of the good friend of guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and vocalist Cedric Bixler Zavala and it is an eclectic mix of different styles and musicians from different backgrounds and when it is all brought together it makes for a fantastic modern prog album full of diverse and interesting songs incorporating latin music prog and post-punk.

The instrumentation on this album is great, Jon Theodore wails on his drum kit with some great syncopated beats and odd time signatures, Juan Aldrette has some serious bass groove and is always adding something to the music and fitting in little licks, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez comes up with some outlandish riffs, Ikey Owens adds some organ chunk to the mix and Cedric Bixler-Zavala wails nonsensically over the top of it all (admittedly a downfall at times).

As far as highlights go there are many, intro son et lumiere and single inertiatic are a fairly poor start to the album, it's fairly odd songwriting but it's still fairly accesible but at times annoying.

Schizophrenic 'Roulette Dares' is an exceptional piece of music, starting off quietly before we are subject to a wall of syncopated noise abound with heavily effected voice and organ before moving into mellow emotionally involved territory, moving through various planes before coming back down for a melancholy ending with Rodriguez-Lopez offering some of his most sincere guitar work. Next we have the eerie acoustic intro song Tira me las Aranas leading into the face paced latin feel of 'Drunkship of Lanterns' with Theodore on fire with some great use of dynamics and some great percussion work too, props must also be given to Aldrette as he adds a lot in this song without doing an awful lot which is a sign of a great bassist. Next up the good times continue with 'Eriatarka' starting with a sincere dreamy verse giving way to a dense syncopated chorus in true MARS VOLTA style. 'Cicatriz ESP' is another fantastic song, very groovy with the latin feel again present, Rodriguez-Lopez's unorthodox take on music comes to the fore here with some great riffs that just seem so different from other guitarists. The middle section of the song can get a bit boring but it's worth it for the nice guitar duel at the end with supporting bass and percussion before the groove comes back in and ends the song.

'This apparatus is unearthed' is one of the weaker songs on the album which is unfortunate as it invokes some of the similar tones of the bands stellar debut EP 'Tremulant'. Penultimate track 'Televators' is easily the weakest song on the album, it's overly emotional and is a lot more toned down, accesible and slow paced than the other songs on the album. All is well in the end though with the album ending on a high note with arguably the best song on the album 'Take the veil cerpin taxt', starting off with a fairly stripped back sound for the verse and a decent chorus but the best bit comes after with the scynopated freak out and break down section leading into Rodriguez-Lopez' 'Robot-riff' as I like to call it a very atonal disjointed riff in a very odd time signature and then with a bit of a bass solo we are led into a funky jam and probably the highlight of the album before it ends on an energetic high note rounding out the album with great use of dynamics.

Overall De-Loused in the comatorium is a fantastic varied and unique album full of great songs and is easily one of if not the best prog record released in the new millenium although it does have it's downpoints notably the highpitched nonsensical vocals but they are fairly easy to get over and get used to. Highly recommended to fans of modern music as well as prog.

Why didn't I give this album a chance earlier!?!?

What a fantastic album from a refreshing band! What really strikes you about this album from the beginning is Cedrics vocals. They are loud, high pitched, and sometimes nasily. But, they have more emotion and feeling than anything ive heard in a long time. The next thing that stood out was how different it sounded. Extremely distorted guitars, machine-gun rapid fire drumming, latin grooves, and...punk influences?!?! Yah, this is not your average prog album. AND I LOVE IT! I know im a bit late on discovering the phenominon that is this 'new' prog band, but wow, if this is where prog is going im glad im here to experience it, and better late than never! Everything else that can be said, has already so ill just stop myself before i begin ranting on.

In Conclusion: If you have a truly Progressive mind, then forward thinking music is what you look for, right? Well this album is all about exploring the un-known of prog. It grabs you like a rollercoaster that speeds off at 100 mph and doesn't let you off until you've tossed your cookies. Twice.

5 stars, no doubt.

Trăsnet!!

With a title that introduces you into a dark, sinister and at times funebre concept, De-Loused In The Comatorium is this band's compelling, perfectly pointed and well crafted album, regardless of how the next in line Francis The Mute and Amputechture exhibit a monumental complexity, respectively a new wave of hard a la mode music. As a debut (blended toughly after a couple of short releases, such Tremulant), it is stronger than expected, with a steam of elements sounding rather far from an artistic reach, nevertheless sounding deeply ravishing.

The whole experience decides whether this is a top pick or not: it bloodbends (with) your temper, it crashes down on you (whilst staying a coherent work of hard nerves), it has few frigid accidentals (having, instead, some experimental ones, it has a striking chill and a numb-free level of sound beneath a consuming, high-driving, spice munch of music, rock and deep beats.

Cedric Bixler-Zavala steps up as an iconic musician, with its hyper-kinetic voice and verse shaking much of the music's faith; the lyrics themselves can be a real deal regarding abstractions and concept heaviness, even if, when getting to know them deeper, everything is quite an easy read; what's left out, both on account of Lopez and the lyrics, is more sensuality, as well as more unusual timbres/lines (which will get used in further recordings and moods). Vigorously painted is also the indie instrumentality, powered mostly by Omar-Rodriguez Lopez's and Jon Theodore's psychedelic fun for hard rock, new music jams and technical foliations. Mars Volta impress on De-Loused In The Comatorium as a band open towards alternative rock and pronounced heavy rock, much of everything being a maelstrom of sensations and kicks, of plain grooves and inkly explosions, of metallic toughness and tern pleasures. While noticing a fair doze of pop music, metal or "splash rock" in this weighted cloud of adrenaline, the fully experimental or "rock eclectic" elements are more precious over the next albums, whereas here they're not that much accounted for.

Most of the pieces, except the hardest of all (Cicatriz), aren't that difficult in structure, breaking waves with a theme or two (vocal and jam-instrumental), a couple of improvisation loops, then leaving a dry atmosphere (sometimes experimenting with "sounds" and "dark textures" till the leap into the next piece). In senses though, every piece is part of a narrative intense music. The first six pieces, as a group, would suit just fine the band's greatness and the music's richness, being coagulant, pinching, fascinating compositions: Inertiatic in an indie-metal easy (pop) style, Roulette Darts with a heat of rock and a second part of melancholic volatilizations, Drunkship Of Lanters with a masterful color of hardcore between an unleash of intensities, and Eriataka as a switch-off that has dreamy and shouting moments. But De-Loused In The Comatorium goes on, asking more, since Cicatriz is immense, especially with its middle-part anaerobic spirit of blunt improvisation; only near the end more minor pieces appear, with This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed being (for what it's praised) a lot less stupendous, Televators shaping again a hard and prog mixed pill, and Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt having a tired edge, yet a formidable finale.

In the end, it's fair to see this band's debut in more than one light: modest or just good for any prog rock fan that's not in line with the new tendency, great or amazing for Mars Volta fans and a lot of those that feel fascinated by new music and new prog, extraordinary if it cuts deep in your flesh and your soul or has all the right ingredients to leave you speechless. A lot of the above hardly change further on, and yet, in contrast with the variable next results, De-Loused In The Comatorium remains this band's best "carte-de-visite". And, I would risk, a defining album for the closing decade.

Wow! What a pleasant surprise!

I must say, after an absolute failure with ''The Bedlam in Goliath'', I was ready to call it quits on The Mars Volta before I even really gave them a chance, but thankfully I decided to give this highly-acclaimed band another chance by picking up their first effort at an LP, ''De-Loused in the Comatorium''. Wow, was I surpirsed! Let me explain:

When I listened to the Volta's latest attempt, all I could hear was aimless nerve-racking noise that never let up and didn't have any real substance to it. When I first played the opening track, ''Son et lumiere'', it was the complete polar opposite of that monstrosity. This song actually had a very soothing, atmospheric ambience to it that set the mood for what was to come. It was placid, haunting, interesting, and frankfully, beautiful, especially when compared to their foruth studio album, which I am fully convinced now will never go for another spin in my CD player. Already this sounded like a totally different band, and I was right-- it doesn't at all. Believe me, this is a good thing. Instead of the idiotic wailing I was subjected to on the fourth Volta album, the vocals found on this track were wonderully moody. Run through some sort of synthesizer, these vocals reminded me of a very classic prog rock singer, with quality, not quantity, to his voice. He wasn't shrieking at dog-friendly high pitches like the last time I heard him; he was truly carrying a tune, and I genuinely liked what I was hearing. Instead of starting off with a bang and never stopping, this album began on a lighter note, which as far as I am concerned is the best way to begin a record of this type. It was only going to get better from there.

Track two, ''Inertiatic esp'', is much like the forst song in that it gives the instruments room to breath; it has space, something that was more or less non-existant on the Bedlam record. While the song's style is possibly a bit too aggressive for some, I would suggest to at least give it a chance, as it is not pure ferocity; rather, it has many slow breakdwons peppered throughout it so that it gives the listener time to take in what they have just heard, rather than simply bash them over the head with hard-hitting riffs and loud shreik-screaming without any plausible aim. Sure, Cedric's vocals are high, but he sounds more like Robert Plant here than a eunuch in torment. The emotional and yet decypherable vocals here are most welcome, and quite a pleasure to my ears. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's guitar playing is also very nice. Not too show-y, and even a little, I dunno, original? He certainly does a fine job of making me forget what a guitar is supposed to sound like, and his large arsenal of effects is very apparent here. He uses them wisely, though, and presents a rather tastefull blend of typical guitar sounds and unsual new stuff. The track ends with a very Beatles-esque backward's guitar track as well as backward cymbals, slowly building up into a loud crash then suddenly being silenced. This makes way for tracl three on the record, ''Roulette Dares (The haunt of)''.

This is the longest running track yet-- nearly eight minutes long. It starts out with a bang, but quickly slows down with some really great work from all of the band members to create a very moody atmosphere led by Cedric's beautiful voice. The guitar work found here is very moving, and the sudden starting and stopping of the band at points gives the track an extra, more frantic punch. I understand that this is a concept album telling the story based upon the actuall events of a man who went into a coma, saw incredible visions, then once awakening from it, took his own life. The feeling I get when I listen to this song is very effective in getting the point across dealing in madness, visions and strange experiences within one's own mind. There is a perticularly beautiful moment in this song when All we hear are Rodriguez-Lopez's beautiful guitar melodies overtop of an eery yet equally lovely keyboard ambience courtesy of Owens. As the song ends, the safety net of keyboards is removed instantly, and the guitars turn into a very howl-like sound as they fall away, completely the experience of yet another beautiful song. Hmm, three absolutely amazing tracks so far; already more than I was expecting from this 'terrible' band.

''Tira me a las aranas'' Begins with a slightly yucky-sounding guitar melody, accompanied by an even more pointless keyboard section. Thankfully, this doesn't last long and Jeremy Michael Ward's sounds come in, saving the track from becoming a least-favorite of mine.

The CD then takes an interesting turn with Drunkship of Lanterns''-- once again, a turn that I'm not fond of. It now reminds me of mexican ramba music, due to the stupid speed-drumming and the extra fast guitar-picking. Cedric's vocals help me keep interest however, and luckily the cuba-clad song structure dies out as soon as it began, being replaced by a much more interesting, proggy section full of creepy sound effects and enjoyable guitar playing. Sadly, this song constantly returns to the ramba for each chorus, so it makes the experience slightly less enjoyable for me, but like I say, the entire song is not like this, and soon the range of effects and keyboard wankery comes back in again, which by the way is a good thing. Guitar wankery-- never something I cared too much for. Keyboard wankery-- always welcome with me. Omar's guitar rhythm for the duration of the song really keeps me interesting, and eventuyally a crunching, electric solo comes in, which ensures boredom will not come close to setting in during the song's remaining few minutes. Finally the song evolves into something completely different, complete with some of the stranges sound effects in music since Pink Floyd's ''On The Run''. See, this is why I love this record, the songs actually evolve here. This is the second TMV album I have heard and the first one that actually contains qualities worthy of being called ''progressive rock''.

Ah! This is much better! Already Omar is doing something great with his instrument. Unlike the nonsensical doodling he was doing two tracks ago, here he is making an effort to play a real melody. Oh yes, did I mention that he succeeds? It still holds enough originality to be considered progressive, but it actually is something one can hum along too as well, which is fine. ''Eriatarka'' Is the most beautiful song on the record in terms of presentation, vocal melody and overall musical harmony. Once again causing the album to bounce back and becoming something worth owning simply because of one song, which is this one. Radio-friendly it may not be because it does after all feature more noises and odd sounds that may disturb some casual listeners, but for The Mars Volta, it's ''Stairway to Heaven'' quality (Okay that may be pushing it a bit, but you get my point). The guitar solo on here is also very moving and once again I found myself in awe of The MarsVolta's ability to create music that is actually, well, listenable. Everything is here on this song: substance, melody, originality, emotion, and damn great music all across the board!

The epic ''Cicatriz esp'' is next, beginning with more warped voice work, followed by some very spacey guitar work, complete with pick scrapes, squeals and aggressive rhythm sections. Omar's work here reminds me of Adam Jones, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The song also has a very Jazzy quality to it, mainly due to Juan Alderete's punchy bass work and Jon Theodore cymbal tapping. The song then becomes a hard rocker, displaying Theodore's best drum work yet. I must say, Jon Theodore is an amazing drummer-- AMAZING! Omar once again shows what he can really do in the guitar, and delivers a short but sweet solo overtop of the drum-induced madness. A bluesy breakdown soon followes, which slowly progresses into a very Floydian effects pool. The bass playing found here in the quieter section of the song is also very impressive, but soon it all becomes effects and nothing else. To people who don't this sort of thing, it could potentially get very boring, but to other folks like myself who just eats this stuff up, it is true music to the ears! Really beautiful ambient work done here with the use of sound effects. Soon, Theodore comes hammering in with some truly awesome speed-drum work. Now, at this point the record once again returns to it's ramba-like sound completel with bongo effects and the whole bit. But for some reason I actually like it here. Maybe it just fits this song better than the previous one it was featured in. It isn't annoying at all; in fact, It's almost like awakeing from a long sleep after several minutes of pure sound effects work; like a breath of fresh air. Everything in this song is perfectly placed andcomes around at the right time. A true example of great thought-out composition.

''This Apperatus Must Be Unearthed'' is my least favorite track on the album. Sounds like sessions form the worst extended jam the world has ever seen. The 'tune' Cedric sings here is the closest thing to ''The Bedlam In Goliath'' this record gets, and it is here that you can hear the horrible direction the band will head in from this moment on. Luckily though, every other track on this record is worth listening to, so one bad apple won't spoil the whole bunch for me here. This song is the one I always skip over whenever I listen to the record, and it keeps De-loused from being a straight-through listen without any breaks, but eh, you can't win them all, and it seems The Mars Volta never will if they keep dishing out the crap they have over the past couple of years.

''Televators'' is a brilliant track which begins with some great ambient sounds, slowly leading in to absolutely fantastic acoustic guitar work from Omar. The melody in Cedric's voice is also a truely wonderful aspect of the song that heightens it considerably. This is the 'ballad' of the album, I suppose, and the most radio-friendly in my opinion, as it never really turns into anything else and stays pretty stagnant the entire time, but in this song's particular case, I like that. I think it fits. Definatly the most typically written song as far as song structure goes. If you want to introduce a non-prog fan to TMV, this is the song to do it with as far as I am concerned.

Now we come to epic finale of this album, which just so happens to be the first De-loused song I heard. Well, what can I say? This song is absolutely perfect. It begins with a truly cool off-beat guitar riff that creates the very chaotic atmosphere that this song carries for it's duration. Cedric's vocals are amazing as usual (well, at least on THIS album), and soon the song becomes quiet, and convoluted in such a way that it actually sounds great. Omar does some really creative guitar tunes hear accompanied by a simply yet hard-hitting bass line. Let us not forget The awesome drummer in this band, backing them both up. Then the bass line becomes a solo that sends chills up my spine every time I listen to it. From there the song becoms something else entirely and Omar once again amazes with truly bizarre and yet hauntingly goregous guitar playing that puts me in a very relaxed state each time I play the song. Then Cedric's ghostly vocals come in again as he uses his voice as an instrument in and of itself. At this point the guitar is playing a most impressive riff that repeats over and over again, creating a hypnotizing loop that doesn't let up for what seems like minutes. Finally, the track picks up the pace again with some truly brutal riffs from Omar and very Robert Plant-like vocal sounds on Cedric's parts. It all comes to an end very suddenly, yet it seems right. The overall effect the album has on me is indescribable, and while it sin't perfect, it is definately an album worth owning, if you're in to more trippy-sounding stuff like this. It is truly a musical journy, and not just a bunch of loud jamming slapped together unlike another album I have already mentioned numerous times in this review.

So, final thoughts. Is it a classic prog album? I have no idea. Only time will tell, won't it? Will it stand the test of time? That really depends on The Mars Volta themselves. If they want to keep releasing crap to the public and expect to survive in audiences'memories, they are in for a shock, and yet I would say that this album, while certainly not essential by any stretch of the imagination, is definately worth giving a shot, even if you don't like what you have heard of The Mars Voilta thus far, as I didn't, yet I enjoy this album very much.

The Pros: Excellent musicianship; sounds like Pink Floyd meets King Crimson! The Cons: Some of the songs sound like extended jam sessions, nothing more. Overall: Great album to try at least once, even if you don't think you'll like TMV.

3.4 stars

This is definitively a very unusual album with an unexpected amount of popularity behind it: how did such complex and eclectic music reach the charts? This is way out there to my ears and if I wrote a review when I got this album, I would have panned it somewhat badly. However, I restrained myself from doing so until I understood more the band in general and get more comfortable within the modern progressive world, which I was oblivious of until recently. While I still find the album a bit too harsh-sounding in terms of production, I recognize this as a daring piece of art that most progressive rock veterans would certainly enjoy it more than me.

The musicians seem to know what they are doing and sound as if they were playing for several years, with a lot of chemistry between each instrument. The singer is an acquired taste, but unlike bedlam in Goliat, he not only avoids indulging himself on distorting his voice, but also sings with more passion and honesty, as if this is what he felt like doing with his voice unlike the more forced feeling of the following albums. The guitar player plays very competently and avoids atonal improvisation unlike the guitar playing in the next two albums. The keyboards are used as a secondary instrument, as they always did, and they help improve the musical texture of the album. However, the main attraction here is the rhythm section, with a drummer that combines power and complex polyrhythms without sounding forced.

The music is very eclectic, introducing several genres that would make people think that they just can't be combined, but they do gel well. While latin rock is one genre, the unusual one is punk. This album is loaded with punkish energy. Imagine a genre called latin jazz-fusion psychedelic progressive punk. That is more or less what Mars Volta is showing here. The track where the latin influences are the most obvious is on the fast-paced Drunkship of Lanterns . For punk energy look no further than this Apparatus, Inertiatic ESP or Eriatarka which probably deserves a paragraph on its own.

Eriatarka is Mars Volta executing their mixture of styles perfectly: it is where this mixture sounds the most natural and a complete genre of its own. The verses are spacey rock/pop segment with inspired melodies while the choruses are punkish explosions in odd-time signatures (check out that drumming, seriously: it is out of this world!). The bridge is psychedelic rock and leads into another chorus, which at first I noticed it was different and could not tell in which way. It really is the refrain but arranged into a smoother 4/4 rhythm. Genius closer indeed.

Cicatriz ESP is the longest song in the album and far from perfect. While the first 5-6 minutes and the ending are decent enough, there is an extended electronic ambient section that is very dull. This Apparatus has a similar style to Eriatarka but is less progressive. It is just a loud alt.rock tune with a very catchy and memorable refrain. Talking about solid choruses, Televators has a great one. This song, unlike the others, is mostly acoustic and laid back and is one of my personal favorites here. the closing track is a loud and powerful one: it pummels you for three minutes in a row until a tranquil and unexpected mellotron solo dominates, accompanied by nothing. The rest of the song is somewhat atonal and very heavy. A bit more than I can stomach but I can see others being able to enjoy it.

Overall, this is a very important album to own due to it being popular, inaccessible, and innovative at the same time. The mixture of styles works quite well and if you do not mind loud music with a 70s production style, you might enjoy this a lot as other reviewers do. Just don't expect pretty music.

If ever you are looking for some adrenaline, just stop (or shop) while listening to this debut album of "Mars Volta".

This album is an amazing journey into the wildest parts of prog you would imagine. A wonderful combo of lethal vocals and fantastic instrumental parts ("Roulette Dares"). But before this great song, "Inertiatic" already set the pace. An enormous, a gigantic track.

Being categorized within the heavy prog style doesn't prevent this band to produce some jewels of rhythmic music as "Drunkship Of Lanterns". An evil beat, some incredible drumming combined with the wildest guitar riffs. An ocean of wild rock is invading every little inch of your body while listening to this type of song. So different, so special. So "Mars Volta".

This ocean of violence is not always deserving a masterpiece status, but when I listen to "Drunkship Of Lanterns", I can hardly say that it is a filler. At the end of the day, there are (almost) none of these on this album.

A huge effort from start to finish (except "This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed"). Innovative, wild, brilliant. This is how "Mars Volta" sounds. To my old ears. Their music is so thrilling, so different of what's available. I can only recommend you to try and listen to their work.

It is of course not an easy task since it is hardly accessible, but hey! Once you have done the effort; there is only one option: like it. A big deal. I am an old freak who was fan of the hardest rock a long time ago and believe me, to encounter such power, such inventiveness is a great pleasure. Even if "Cicatriz ESP" holds some spacey "borrowed" moments (from Floyd of course) it ends up on a fabulous and devastating closing. An excellent way to finish this song.

These debut are certainly well worth. Special, attractive, fresh. Try it out, you shouldn't be disappointed. The killing closing number "Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt" is another of their somptuous compositions. Incredible off-beat, an inmense wave of sound combined with some scaterred riffs are such a good manner to close this album.

Four stars.

The Mars Volta - 'De-Loused in the Comatorium' 5 stars

A groundbreaking album that shocked the world and put this band on the map with very little promotion.something that prog is used to.

The Mars Volta came about through the break-up of a band called At the Drive-In. I haven't really listened to the band really much but it sounds like decent punk to me.I can't stand tagging genres so there is my best take on it. One of the guitarists of the band named Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and the lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala decided that they wanted a more experimental approach while the other members wanted to go more mainstream and pop oriented. Those members went to form Sparta; a terrible band in my opinion.

A more experimental approach is more than just an understatement. They should have said bringing forth an original sound to the dying world of music. There is hardly anything like The Mars Volta and this album was a beautiful start to their career and they have not looked back since, for the better in my honest opinion.

The Mars Volta's sound is powerful. It is loud and very noisy at times. There is constant time signature changes, very high pitches vocals, fantastic drum work and frantic guitar work that is as jumpy as Robert Fripp's and merciless as John McLaughlin's.

The album has an opener that is so fantastic and unexpected that I think the only thing that topped it is '21st Century Schizoid Man' or 'Larks Tongue in Aspic Pt.1'. The album starts with two songs that flow right into each other called 'Son et Lumiere' and 'Inertiatic Esp'. Just starting with a simple few notes on the guitar, some atmospheric keys and some sung vocals nobody would expect just a breakthrough of sound with overdriven guitar and some berserk drums completely in sync and in short bursts with different rhythmic patterns each time. The structure becomes consistent in the second part with just some added keyboard melody that is simple and fun, a brilliant hooker while the guitar and drums blast through the speakers. Again, this albums' opener is one of the best I have heard in prog.

Every song on this album is special in its own way. A concept based on Cedric's friend, but do not expect to get anything out of it. Cedric who is the lyricist of the band warps his words around in so many ways that it is basically used to fit the music, much like Jon Anderson in my opinion. He does although have a good vocabulary, or a thesaurus in hand at all times that the lyrics do sound very cool. His voice serves as a hook into the music while the instrumentation which is entirely written by Omar (except 'Drunkship of Lanterns' and 'This Apparatus Must be Unearthed') is very complex. All of the songs are very fast and noisy except for one, which is 'Televators'. 'Televators' is a slow acoustic song that is an excellent one but far from my favorites on the album.

I found every single song on this album to be excellent. If you want to hear one of the most unique albums in music, I highly recommend this.

De-loused in the Comatorium is the debut album from The Mars Volta. A band that I have heard a lot about these past few years. I always assumed they were an emo band and therefore never gave them a chance ( I absolutely hate emo) but I must admit that it´s an error from my side as De-loused in the Comatorium is an excellent, innovative and progressive rock album. It has a very modern innovative sound that I like very much. There are actually traces of emo in the music which is mostly due to Cedric Bixler-Zavala´s distinc high pitched vocal style. Cedric is not your average emo rock singer though. The man has got a trick or two up his sleeve that´s for sure. The real mastermind of The Mars Volta is guitarist and main composer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. He is a very skilled musician and composer with a clear vision of how he thinks his music should sound.

At first I was very impressed with the music on De-loused in the Comatorium but Cedric´s voice put me of a bit. After listening to De-loused in the Comatorium many times I have finally found the charm in Cedric´s voice. There was never a doubt in my mind that he is a brilliant singer but my tolerance for his vocal style took some time.

The music is vers chorus like rock but there is always a twist and sections with lots of strange guitar effects and other odd noises to keep the music exciting. Some of the songs does sound like they could be played on MTV in edited versions and here I would especially mention the extremely memorable Eriatarka. The Mars Volta can really create memorable choruses while still maintaining a progressive edge. Cicatriz ESP is for example 12:29 minutes long and has a long psychadelic/ spaced out middle section.

I would call the musicianship outstanding on De-loused in the Comatorium and especially the guitar playing and choice of notes from Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is really something special, but drums, bass, vocals and keyboards are all well played and powerful sounding.

The production is excellent. One of the best modern prog productions I have heard.Everything is right in the mix. I bet this one cost a lot of money.

The cover artwork is pretty weird but looks cool.

The Mars Volta has been a pleasant surprise for me and well worth my money even though I had my worries before this purchase. The emo influences are there as I had suspected but they are not the dominant part of the music. Experimental modern rock like this should be welcomed by any prog head who is in search of a new challenge. I´ll reward this album with 4 stars and recommend it to anyone who likes powerful, innovative, melodic and memorable music.

Son et Lumiere. Upper atmospheric disturbance. A repeating motif, gently nudging the listener at first, then exploding into the buzz guitar violence of Inertiatic ESP. So this is how Mars Volta opts for an introduction: the intentions are immediately stated. The song is continuously twisting and turning, guitars alternatively squealing, hammering, and doing those Wes Montgomery-style octave-doubling solos. The vocals are not immediately pleasing to these ears, though we eventually reach entente.

As we move through the songs, the band displays an uncommon mastery of tempo, mood, and every trick any reasonable prog-pretender might hold up its sleeve: backwards tape-loop guitars; echoing guitars; Frippish layers of guitar; Mellotron influenced synth washes; aggressive rhythm section; the ability to take the listener from an end-of-the-runway 747 roar to the most blissed-out pastoral sort of burbling river bank, all within a matter of seconds.

By the time Cicatriz ESP rolls around, I've heard everything I expect from progressive music and more. But it turns out the band is just getting warmed up. Cicatriz is a dense, multi-faceted sort of prism of a song. Turn it one way and it's red hard rock. Turn it another and it's a blue-green symphony. The song eventually ventures into noise of sorts. I've heard better, but it's remarkable to hear noise again, noise having been out of style for wha? twenty/thirty years.

The album finshes strong with Televators, with its beautiful Siren-like melody that lures the listener right into the dangerous, brittle outcropping that is Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt, which again provides an almost voluptuous display of the band's mastery of the classic progressive forms.

I'm not particularly impressed with contemporary progressive rock, but Mars Volta is the exception rather than the rule. Deloused in the Comatorium is a remarkable prog album, all the more impressive in that it's their debut. Almost a 5, and highly recommended.

The Mars Volta's first album is certainly their most consistent and easiest to digest; I almost wish I'd listened to this to get an idea of their sound rather than their later works. I avoided The Mars Volta for quite a long time, failing miserably to understand what people saw in this band. The music was so strident and noisy, and Bixler-Zavala's voice can be piercing at times. Due to a promotion at a store I frequent, I managed to acquire their second and third albums for under nine dollars. Upon hearing the music with a fresh mind (and through proper speakers), I came to find an awful lot I liked. Right from the start here, there is no question that these gentlemen are not just musicians, they are artists of sound. The vocalist, Cedric Bixler-Zavala has a voice quite similar to that of Geddy Lee, but has its own distinct qualities that make it stand apart. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is quite simply one of the most innovative and imaginative guitarists I've heard in a long time. Together (and with a hell of a band and an arsenal of sound effects), this is a group whose music I could only succinctly describe as structured chaos.

"Son et Lumiere" Atmospheric noises and an electric piano give the listener a brief and deceptive preview of this album. The effects over Bixler-Zavala's vocals are well done (even though they won't always be).

"Inertiatic ESP" The short piece before ends with a punctuated rhythm that flows right into this. This song is loaded with energy. It does a good job of summing up the whole tenor of the band while being a highly creative effort in its own right.

"Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" This one goes from soft, mellow passages to loud and insane guitar work. There is an almost classic rock sound during the chorus. Rodriguez-Lopez delivers some very experimental guitar work, full of strange noises and frantic drumming. The ending is full of mellow guitar and bass, with the singer vocalizing now and then over it.

"Tira Me a las Arañas" This short interlude consists of spacey sound effects and a rickety acoustic guitar. It serves as an introduction to next song.

"Drunkship of Lanterns" Tribal drumming lends this a primitive sound, but Rodriguez-Lopez's guitar tone initially gives this the feel of a surf-rock song. At times, the noises can be grating and irritating, and the arrangement is sometimes unbalanced. Still, it's a wild and fun song.

"Eriatarka" One of the greatest moments on not only this album, but in the entire discography from The Mars Volta, "Eritarka" shows the band at both their mellowest and their most ferocious. The verses are beautiful, quite frankly, and the build between the first verse and the chorus is epic, and when Bixler-Zavala sings the chorus, he sounds absolutely commanding. The instrumentation is hyperactive but under control. The first chorus gives way to some noisy business and slide guitar before Rodriguez-Lopez guides the listener to the second verse with a simple but skilled solo. The bridge is well done, with frightening lyrics.

"Cicatriz ESP" The longest track has a bouncy rhythm throughout most of it and the vocal melodies are highly memorable. During the instrumental sections, the bass playing stands out a bit. Everything is fantastic here- the drumming, the guitars, and even the sound effects have their timely places within the piece. The arrangement gives everything room to breathe, and after listening to this one, it's hard to fathom that twelve-and-a-half minutes just went by.

"This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed" Sound effects bridge the previous song seamlessly to this one. There's a lot of slightly annoying guitar at first, but when Bixler-Zavala begins singing (and with those weird effects on his voice), I am always reminded that I am in for yet another treat. The verses sound a bit like jazz rock, but it's not long before the band revs up again and lets it rip. The final moments, however, involve mindless percussion.

"Televators" Another of my absolute favorites from not just this album, but the whole of The Mars Volta's work, "Televators" represents the band at their most sedated, and features some disturbingly harrow yet obscure lyrics. Compared to everything else on this album, this song is very straightforward, with a verse, chorus, and bridge setup, unusual for this group.

"Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" One final exotic cacophony ends this magnificent and avant-garde heavy progressive rock album. Once more the vocal melodies are largely memorable, and the guitar work and tone stays fresh throughout. In the span of less than nine minutes, the band uses every stamp they have to make this track one of the most representative songs of their history. Peculiarly, the album ends in an abrupt halt.

21st Century Schizoid Prog

Overwhelming, excessive, nerve-shattering, unique, emotive, innovative, original, boundary-breaking, progressive. This might well be the first album since the early 70's that corresponds to every possible definition of what progressive rock is about. And the best thing of all is that it reached far beyond usual prog audiences. Together with Porcupine Tree this is a band that makes you proud to be a prog-rock fan.

The music is so tremendous that I kind of feel out of place to analyze everything that is going on here. What this music demonstrates is an experience of totally free musical expression that is nevertheless wrought into something consistent and catchy.

Much like King Crimson's and Yes's early albums you have the feeling this band takes you on a rollercoaster ride through musical fairyland, taking you just anywhere they want. Yet, with attractive melodies and strong compositions, they always bring you back on your feet in the nicest possible way. Even though you might be left slightly dizzy from the experience you're quite sure it was the most exciting trip throughout.

This album is every bit as defining and excellent as In the Court of the Crimson King, Foxtrot, Close to the Edge and Dark Side of The Moon were 30 years earlier. And it looks like Mars Volta are equally successful commercially. Well deserved. Pure bliss.

The Mars Volta debut album is kind of explosion on a sleepy world. They mixed heavy psychedelic with acoustic sound with trash explosions with dreamy synth loops and sounds in dangerous mix! If John Zorn is Zappa of modern world, The Mars Volta debut just informed us that (at least) new King Crimson ( of XXI century) is born.

I believe some people love their music and many hate them. It is even more than normal - it happened with Frank Zappa years ago , and even now he is love/hate figure ( believe me, I am living in only city in the world where monument to Frank Zappa is built).

Speaking about music, I love their chaos, noise and acoustic /melodic beauty, nervous voice and unfocused sound. I am not happy with muddy sound and bad sound mix, but I believe that even that gave to the album even more freaky atmosphere.

I own almost all TMV and Omar Rodriguez-Lopes solo works, and I can confirm that I enjoy almost all of them. But speaking about music, this album isn't best, as many think. IMO, their best work to time is next, second album. Better sound, a bit more better focused, with more targeted energy, it is the real gem. But in sense of historical importance, this debut is absolutely piece of art ( and a child of it's crazy, nervous, dirty, agressive and beautiful time).

One of the most important prog albums of XXI century ( at least - it first decade).

I don't remember quite why I came around to buying this album. I had become interested in At the Drive In, and knew Cedric & Omar had moved on to stretch their musical boundaries.

But this was a surprise. This wasn't punk, this wasn't emo or screamo or whatever alternative scene that ATDI was part of. You could hear where ATDI could have gone if the rest of the band had gone along with Omar & Cedric. But that was only part of it.

Once I started to listen to the album, I was playing it a few times a week for about a month. And the only way I could describe it to my friends was that it was a smashing combination of Rush, Santana, Pink Floyd, played with a punkish energy that belied what most outsiders thought prog could or should sound like.

This is not heavy rock. This is experimental almost metal with a restraint that the band would not show until Octahedron.

If you loved Rush's ability to write 15-20 minute suites with a slew of hard hitting riffs, then this is worth your time & money. Just imagine the latin feel of Santana added to the mix. 'Cause the Mars Volta pulled it off perfectly on this record.

Too bad they quickly lost the ability to know when a riff or melody was played out and to move on to the next musical idea.

And yes, this did match the pantheon of Prog masterpieces and will remain so. If only more bands were able to break through. And of course, if only TMV had continued to do so.