Review Summary: Fantastic Album, almost undefinable.
“Cerpin Taxt stood high above the wobbling miscarriage of oncoming traffic, he was weak in the knees. Blackened out of synch he knew his time here would soon end with an internal hemorrhaging made aware by the animonstrosity of his frankenstatue presence. No longer would he carry on his shoulders the weight of passion. No where were his next of kin to be found. Automotive surges spilled through the veins below him. Was this the only passage he could find? Sweat adorned the unmoped of his brow, he couldn't possibly turn back. His jaws jingled in the cold studdering, his stomach bulged in mid metamorphosis, grumbling knot belches, too nervous to look down into the inviting concrete collision. He served himself no other choice.”
Or so the story goes. The passage above is an excerpt from the storybook that explains and fleshes out the fantastic album “De-loused in the Comatorium” by The Mars Volta. This is their first album save the EP “tremulant,” and it is quite a debut. Everything is done to near perfection, the composition, the playing, the vocals, the lyrics, even the ambient seemingly nonsensical minutes of noise hold their own. And now the songs.
1.Son Et Lumiere 2. Inertiatic ESP (these two songs are linked, one the intro the the next)
The album opens with static and the bubbling hiss of synthesizers. Layers of sound wash over the listener as Cedric's shrill and strained voice pierces through the wall of sound. He sings of the albums antihero, if you will, Cerpin taxts plight, he has tried to end his life, only to awake later in a much more sinister world, one of his own mind.
“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 “
With repeated bangs and clashes things drift into 'Inertiatic ESP' with shouts of “now I'm lost!” Frantic and desperate guitar and keyboards crazily dance about while the bass drills the beat into your head. The drumming is superb, overwhelming but still keeping a steady beat. Two minutes in things fade out and effect laden vocals and screeching almost violin-like guitar sets the mood, but not for long. The song goes through many quick and unexpected changes, from almost orchestral waltzes to soothing whispered vocals over backwards lullabies of guitar. The song ends with a whimper, only to lead into...
4.5/5
3.Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
A muted and phased guitar riff opens the song while drums accompany, but only for a moment for the whole band rushes in with a bang. Cedric screams over the onslaught, only to lull us back into that sweet smooth sound of echoes and superb bass. The chorus is the true highlight of this song. Magnificent and Epic, the band mashes the chords into your ears with pride and the vocals shriek with authority. Hectic and beautiful, this song is loved by most people who hear it. It goes through its own ambient sections, but never without coming back to the all too powerful chorus, and you can't help but sing along, even if you don't have a clue what it means.
“Exoskeletal! Junction at the Railroad delayed!”
5/5
4. Tira me a Las Aranas. 5. Drunkship of Lanterns
Tira me a Las Aranas is an interesting introduction . Entirely instrumental, an acoustic guitar starts the piece while electric white noise dance over the basic melody. Building up feedback, the song releases the tension and becomes “Drunkship of lanterns” with a some funk bass, tribal drums and a dissonant race of guitar. The Vocals are great, with multiple tracks, sentences start just before others finish, confusing and perplexing the listener. Although the dissonance may bother some people on first listen (myself included) the song is well worth a listen. Two minutes in a heavy riff takes over, with a heavy bass part that stampedes throughout the song, with the occasional outcry of frenzied and painful guitar. This song is just dripping with passion, and you can hear how much work must of gone into it. The highlight has to be the end, after the song comes back from a truly horrifying work of ambience. Electronic beeps and muted screams give way to the original riff. Shouts of “Carpel Jets! hit the ground!” while a guitar solo joins the impressive musical cacophony. The song ends with a satisfying explosion, with an outro of clicks and percussion to lead us into the next piece.
4.5/5
6. Eriatarka.
Four quick chords and some beautiful guitar work. That is how my personal favorite track of this album starts. With a very ethereal feel, sliding bass guitar lines, and layered vocals the song escalates with a simple but well constructed crescendo, only to develop into a rabid and hungry mash of a dystopian march. One can't help but raise their fist in the shared fury. The song tosses back and forth between beauty and fury, and I love every minute of it. If you have to download one song, get this one.
5/5
7. Cicatriz ESP
Clocking in at twelve and a half minutes, this could be (and should be) considered De-Loused “epic” song. The song is driven by effect ridden bass groove, that pretty much returns throughout the whole song. It is a fun groove, but nothing special. However, the chorus is truly a work of art. Oddly pleasing yet dissonant chords and bass throb as the screams of “I've Defected!” echo across the musical landscape. Even considering the great chorus, it is the instrumental jam in the middle of the song that really shows the talent and passion of the mars volta. From the full band bouncing around in their jam, to the guitar duet between Omar Rodgriguez-Lopez and John Frusciante of the red hot chili peppers, the instrumental interlude is fantastic, only to come crashing back into that powerful chorus. A wonderful, wonderful song.
5/5
8. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed
Honestly, this the only bad song on the album. The song is just annoying and too dissonant, even for The Mars Volta. Sure, it has its moments but the are few and far between.
2/5
9. Televators
Out of all the fire, all the burning passion, emerges an acoustic ballad. Hard to believe, but true. It is absolutely breathtaking, and when first listening to this album, it came from nowhere. Cedrics voice is perfect, and the higher registered and doubled vocals are sublime. With lyrics such as;
“Pull the pins
Save your grace
Mark these words
On his grave “
and
“One day this chalk outline will circle this city
Was he robbed of the asphalt that cushioned his face “
The song speaks of Cerpin taxts failed suicide, although a depressing subject, the song has it's uplifting moments.
5/5
10. Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt
And now, ladies and gents, our thrilling conclusion. With unique and playful instrumentation, 'Take the Veil' is just fun. A catchy chorus and a jump inducing verse, that gives way to an almost humorous ambient section, the song has everything, even a bass solo! and a smooth one and that. It is a fabulous conclusion to a fabulous album, and one of my favorite lyrics wise too;
“
The one last hit that spent you
And you will find
The greatest ***ing lie
Of aneurysm vespers
The ones that pile
Up the greatest ***ing lies “
Listen to this Album and tell me it doesn't move you.
I dare you.
