The Mars Volta
De-Loused In The Comatorium

THE REVIEW

Hello everyone!

This is my first un-review and I find myself talking about the debut album by The Mars Volta, former At The Drive In members including singer Cedric Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, who are also the key members of the group.

Speaking of the actual record, it is a concept album (the first in a long series for the group) or rather a tribute to their friend Julio Venegas, who fell into a coma from an overdose, only to decide to take his own life once he recovered. The journey of Venegas’s alter ego "Cerpin Taxt" begins with the dark "Son Et Lumiere" which transforms into the desperate scream of "Inertiac ESP" ("Now I'm Lost!"), a song that is also absolutely enjoyable and catchy.

With "Roulette Dares" we get a preview of what will be the group’s style, namely two songs intertwined, connected by a compelling chorus and psychedelic solos. "Tira Me A Las Aranas" is a brief acoustic interlude that precedes the beautiful "Drunkship Of Lanterns", also supported by a compelling chorus and, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating solos ever performed by Omar Lopez.

The rest proceeds without ever getting boring with the electric and poetic "Eriatarka", the electronic experiments of "Cicatriz ESP", the powerful "This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed". However, the real gem of the album is the delicate "Televators", with those beautiful acoustic chords and the almost childlike choirs in the third verse, truly very engaging.

"Take A Veil Cerpin Taxt" is the fitting conclusion for what I consider to be the best album by The Mars Volta, who shortly thereafter would start to decline by becoming increasingly pretentious and confusing. Nevertheless, this is one of the best albums of recent times, and if that isn’t enough for you... well, it still means something nonetheless.

Looking forward to your comments.