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Rating:
“De-Loused In The Comatorium” is the first work (after "Tremulant" EP) of The Mars Volta, a group born from the ashes of At The Drive-In.
It is an album that tries to blend Hardcore ferocity with Progressive majesty; punk violence systematically melds with impactful melodies. Prog influences are very frequent, but they don't yet seem to be the group's point of reference. Certainly, the length of the tracks, the varying musical themes within a single song, and the instrumental parts suggest its inspiration. Exemplary is the opening “Son Et Lumiere” -“Inertiatic ESP”, where a beginning with subtle and highly evocative shades gives way to the actual song, perhaps even too pompous, yet impeccable and tremendously catchy. It must be said that the prog-hardcore ambitions blend perfectly with the accessibility of the melodies, aided by Cedric Bixler's splendid voice.
Thus, extremely complete songs are born like “Roulette Dares”, very dynamic and unrestrained, but also rich with delicate interludes; “Eriatarka”, beautifully soft in its introduction and capable of exploding suddenly, while always maintaining extraordinary catchiness. The track is shaken by accentuated percussions, sonic disturbances, and electric echoes. But there are also bittersweet ballads like “Tira Me a Las Ananas”, a splendid introduction to the stunning Latin ride “Drunkship Of Lanterns”, disturbed by a storm of sounds and particularly harsh and booming guitar. Often, the atmosphere becomes tense, at times apocalyptic in intensity and pathos; the group never relents and continues at excellent levels. The long “Cicatriz ESP” is perhaps the most progressive episode; its constant drive merges with a powerful refrain; the instrumental evolutions of the central part are also interesting, with thin and sharp sounds intersecting with the incandescent sound of the guitar supported by an emotional beat. In the second half, it brushes against the psychedelic and then starts again with the wildest rhythm that ends in a sea of distortions and resumes the central melodic theme.
While “This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed” doesn't stand out for any particular innovation, the musicality and organicity distinguishing this song remain exceptional. “Televators” is nothing more than a simple electric ballad, enhanced by the vibrant guitar and the desolate atmosphere. “Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt” closes the album with its multifaceted rhythms, its booming incursions, and electronic phrasing. In the finale, the guitar leads us towards the exit of this intricate sound labyrinth. There are many sensations; certainly, The Mars Volta's project is ambitious and also quite unique.
While remaining a beautiful and very fascinating album, “De-Loused” perhaps also shows some shortcomings in terms of compactness; the various influences of the group, excellently expressed nonetheless, may still be too separate and not fully converging into a new musical direction. Rather, there tends to be segmental and very fluctuating songs; the result remains excellent, but the melodic glue may not always work in the future.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Son et lumiere (01:35)
Clipside of the pinkeye flight
I'm not the percent you think survives
I need sanctuary in the pages of this book
Gestating with all the other rats
Nurse said that my skin will need a graft
I am of pockmarked shapes
The vermin you need to loathe
03 Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of) (07:30)
Transient jet lag ecto mimed bison
This is the haunt of roulette dares
Ruse of metacarpi
Caveat emptor....to all that enter here
Open wrist talks back again
In the wounds of its skin
They'll pinprick the witness
In ritual contrition
The am trinity fell upon asphyxia-derailed
In the rattles of...
Made its way through the tracks
Of a snail slouching whisper
A half mass comute through umbilical blisters
Spector will lurk
Radar has gathered
Midnight nooses from boxcar cadavers
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
It's because this is
Cranial bleeding
Leaches train the living
Cursed are they who speak its name
Ruse of metacarpi
Caveat emptor to all that enter here
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
It's because this is
Rattling the laughter
Hinges splintering inside
Bludgeoned to a saddle
Rang the cloister bell inside
inside
inside
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
It's because this is
05 Drunkship of Lanterns (07:05)
You've got the lot to burn
A shelve of pig smotherd cries
Is there a spirit that spits
Upon the exit of signs
Is anybody there
These steps keep on growing long
Bayonet trials rust propellers await
No
Nobody is heard
Rowing sheep smiles for the dead
Nobody is heard
An antiquated home
Afloat with engines on mute
Sui generis ship spined around the yard
Is anybody there
These craft only multiply
At the nape of ruins rust propellers await
No
Nobody is heard compass wilting in the wind
Nobody is heard
Rowing sheep smile for the dead
Tansoceanic depth in this earth
No
Nobody is heard compass wilting in the wind
Nobody is heard
Rowing sheep smile for the dead
Transoceanic depth in this earth in this cenotaph
Lash of one thousand eye brows clicking
Counting the toll
Counting the toll
You've got the lot to burn
A shelve of pig smothered cries
Is there a spirit that spits upon the exit of signs
Is anybody there
These steps keep on growing long
Bayonet trials rust propellers await
No
Nobody is heard compass wilting in the wind
Nobody is heard rowing sheep smile for the dead
Transoceanic depth in this earth in this cenotaph
Carpel jets
Hit the ground
Carpel jets
Hit the ground
Carpel jets
Hit the ground
Carpel jets
Hit the ground
Lash of one thousand eyebrows clicking
Counting the toll
Counting the toll
Lash of one thousand eyebrows clicking
Counting the toll
Counting the toll
06 Eriatarka (06:20)
And there are those who
Hadn't found the speaking so wrong
Is it wrong
Of Pavlov lore
They ran rampant through the floors
Is this wrong
Feels so wrong
Happened on a respirator
In the basements
Are they gone are they gone
Stung the slang of a gallows bird
Rationed a dead letter pure
Trackmarked amoeba lands craft
Cartwheel of scratches
Dress the tapeworm as pet
Tenticles smirk please
Flinched the cocooned meat
Infra-recon forgets
Now there are those who find
Comfort in the breathing
Wrong-is it wrong
It houses the watchful eyes
They're panting in a pattern in droves
Are they gone
Happened on a respirator bet
In the basements
Is it gone
Are they gone
Stung the slang of a gallows bird
Sanctioned a dead letter pure
Trackmarked amoeba lands craft
Cartwheel of scratches
Dress the tape worm as pets
Tentacles smirk please
Flinch the cacooned meat
Infra-recon forgets
Evaporated the fur
Because it covers them
If you only knew the plans they had for us
Evaporated the fur
Because it covers them
If you only knew the plans they had for us
They used to have pulses in them
But impulse has made the strong
They used to have pulses in them
But impulse has made them strong
Evaporated the fur
Because it covers them
If you only knew the plans they had for us
Trackmarked amoeba lands craft
Cartwheel of scratches
Dress the tapeworm as pets
Tentacles smirk please
Flinch the cacooned meat
Infra-reco forgets
Gotta be a way
Of getting out
Are you just growing old
Trackmarked amoeba lands craft
Cartwheel of scratches
Dress the tapeworm as pets
07 Cicatriz ESP (12:28)
Do you recall its name
As it suggested beck and call
This face and heel
Will drag your halo through the mud
Ash of pompei
Erupting in a statues dust
Shrouded in veils
Because these handcuffs hurt to much
Still scalpeing these ticketless applause
And when they drag the lake there is nothing left at all
suture contusion
beyond the anthills of the dawning of this plague
said I've lost my way
even if this cul de sac would pay
to reach inside a vault whatever be the cost
sterling clear
blackened ice
and when they drag the lake there's nothing left at all
I defected
I defected
I defected
I defected
suture contusion
beyond the anthills of the dawning of this plague
said I've lost my way
even if this cul de sac did pay
to reach inside a vault whatever be the cost
sterling clear
blackened ice
when they drag the lake there's nothing left at all
I defected
I defected
I defected
I defected
beyond the anthills of the dawning of this plague
said I've lost my way
even if this cul de sac did pay
beyond the anthills of
beyond the anthills of said I've lost my way
even if you
even if you
even if you reach inside a vault whatever be the cost
sterling clear
blackend ice
when they drag the lake there's nothing left at all
this is my last insicion
the stitches have defected
drag me a vessel
coveting all you know see and hear
this is my last incision
the stitches have fallen off
Sterling clear blackened ice
And when they drag they lake there's nothing left at all
I defected
I defected
I defected
I defected
08 This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed (04:57)
I've been waiting for so long
For someone to
Mend all the blame
Ive been searching for so long
For something to
Anonymous
Avenge my name
Anonymous
Avenge my name
You came here on time
I just hope that it's not to late
I've seen you at night
Biting the frost of silence
Can you cure us of this fate
Mock the litany in its face
Is that you moatilliatta
I've been waiting for so long
For someone to
Mend all the blame
I've been searching for so long
For something to
Anonymous
Avenge my name
Anonymous
Avenge my name
Hex zero rouge
He'll hibernate no more
The altars run dry
Prefect dictate your final words
Does it sting of augur truth
Was your temple left in ruins
Is that you moatilliatta
I've been waiting for so long
For someone to
Mend all the blame
I've been searching for so long
For something to
Anonymous
Avenge my name
Anonymous
Avenge my name
This is the altar
The one that you let me die in
On your knees
How you wept
Much like Omerta
The quiet has shielded all intent
On the ground it appears
Like wrath
Avenging the lamb as bait
In a bed of nails you made
Who made this effigy
Is there straw dressed in these fields
And now it won't be long
I've been waiting for so long
For someone to
Mend all the blame
I've been searching for so long
For something to
Anonymous
Avenge my name
Anonymous
Avenge my name
09 Televators (06:18)
Just as he hit
The ground
They lowered a tow that stuck in his neck to the gills
Fragments of sobriquets
Riddle me this:
Three half eaten corneas
Who hit the area
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch and hobbled sway
Auto de fe
A capillary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped
The house half the way
Fell empty with teeth that
Split both his lips
Mark these words
One day this chalk outline will circle this city
Was he robbed of the asphalt that cushioned his face?
A room coloured charlatan hid in a safe
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch and hobbled sway
Autodafe
A capillary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped
Pull the pins
Save your grace
Mark these words
On his grave
Pull the pins
Save your grace
Mark these words
On his grave
Pull the pins
Save your grace
Mark these words
On his grave
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch and hobbled sway
Auto de fe
A capillary hint of red
Everyone knows the last toes are
Always the coldest to go
10 Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt (08:41)
You must have been phlegmatic in stature
The gates of thanos are a spread eagle wide
You let the shutters make sackcloth and ashes
Out of a blind mans picaresque heart
You take the veil
You'll take the dive
You take the veil
It's not over till the tremulant sings
These ides of march
Are they so make believe
How tempts the revenant
Slice up and not across
You take the veil
You'll take the dive
You take the veil
A mass of gallon sloth
As flys have walls for feet
A rapturous verbatim-someone said but who is to know
And when you find the fringe
The one last hit that spent you
You'll find the ossuary spilling by the day
The iconoclastic had it coming for years
They know the prisons that you have yet to fear
Where thumbs hide inside of sleepingbag mouths
Adlib your memoires by casting a drought
You take the veil
You'll take the dive
You take the veil
A mass of gallon sloth
As flys have walls for feet
A rapturous verbatim-someone said but who is to know
And when you find the fringe
The one last hit that spent you
You'll find the ossuary spilling by the day
Knife me in -hobbeling
Talking in it's sleep again
Knife me in-hobbeling
Talking in it's sleep again
The one last hit that spent you
And you will find
The greatest fucking lie
Of aneurysm vespers
The ones that pile
Up the greatest fucking lies
Knife me in hobbling
Talking in it's sleep again
Knife me in hobbling
Talking in It's sleep again
Virulent hives- of bedpost piles
Virulent hives
Who brought me here
Forsaken, depraved and wrought with fear
Who turned it off
The last thing I remember now
Who brought me here
Forsaken, depraved and wrought with fear
Who turned it off
The last thing I remember now
Who brought me here
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Other reviews
By Rivo
It’s as if it’s made up of various layers to be peeled time after time.
Well done but... cloying.
By ZiOn
The Mars Volta are without a doubt one of the greatest novelties in the current global Rock scene.
They have given us one of the best albums of 2003, an album that explores different atmospheres without losing cohesion.
By bella_Bartok!
To this day this remains one of the best albums I have ever listened to.
It’s a psychedelic avalanche of hard sounds mixed with Latin rhythms and melodic bursts.
By uno qualunque
The real gem of the album is the delicate 'Televators', with those beautiful acoustic chords and the almost childlike choirs.
This is one of the best albums of recent times, and if that isn’t enough for you... well, it still means something nonetheless.
By Bloody Francy
The musical revolution, an undefined mix of genres (including prog, noise, free-jazz), an absolute chaos from which emerges an almost complete perfection.
The stunning voice of Cedric Bixler Zavala, powerful and erotic... one of the most loaded and sexy voices in history.
