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Band: The Mars Volta
Album: De-Loused In The Comatorium
Gold Standard Labs/Universal (2002)
Produced by: Rick Rubin
Members:
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Guitars
Cedric Bixler Zavala - Lead Vocal
Flea - Bass Guitar (Yes.... FLEA of RHCP)
Jon Theodore - Keyboards, Organs
Jeremy Michael Ward - Effects, etc...
Ikey Isiaiah Owens - Drums and Percussion
(John Frusciante appears on one track on lead guitar)
On the first spin, this album sounds like complete and utter noise. It's harsh, loud, noisy, and mostly incoherent. Upon listening to it s couple more times, you begin to realize... we're not in kansas anymore. The Mars Volta's music is IMPOSSIBLE to categorize. Some say it's techno-punk, that's the most common opinion. But to the keen ear, you pick up nuances of.... everything: jazz, classical, metal, psychedelia (in heavy doses), etc...
The album itself is a concept album, it tells the story, or "experience" if you will of a friend of the singer's. The album is based on the story written by Zavala, the story is one of a man who has just decided that he will commit suicide by overdosing on morphine. This is the first two tracks (Son et Lumiere, Inertiatic ESP) are him waiting for the overdose to begin (Son et Lumiere) and him falling into the overdose (Inertiatic ESP) marked by the lyrics "Now, I'm Lost." The next 6 tracks (Roulette Dares [This is the Haunt Of], Tira Me A Las Aranas, Drunkship of lanterns, Eriatarka, Cicatriz ESP, and This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed) show him in the depths of a week long hallucinatory coma, the lyrics don't make much sense, mostly because it is told through the first person (i.e. you become the man in the coma) so you only hear what he thinks in his hallucinations. This makes the experience that much trippier. The last two tracks on the album are the climax, if you will, of the album. The ninth track (Televators) shows him coming out of this coma, surviving the ordeal, but on the tenth track (Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt) he decides that he is too depressed to actually fully come out of the coma and live out the remainder of his life, so he decides to die before actually pulling through. The Story here is half true. A friend of Cedric Bixler Zavala's killed himself via drug overdose after many years of drug abuse which resulted in many physical scars and mental damage.
The album is of the type that sounds best when played uninterrupted from start to end. My suggestion for best results, get together with some friends, light up a spliff and enjoy the album. it's only 10$ canadian and is worth ten times that. A must buy for the stoner in all of us.
(if you're the impatient type, the best songs are Inertiatic ESP, Cicatriz ESP, Eriatarka, This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed and Roulette Dares)
11 out of 10 i've had this album since August and listen to it constantly, i'm not even beginning to get sick of it!
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