The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium - A Review

Having heard about The Mars Volta on a few prog related sites, the name of the band had me thinking that I was about to be assailed by an Italian prog band that had taken all the wrong elements from the early 70’s. Flowing capes, synthesizer scale runs up and down, up and down (and so on) the keyboard and incomprehensible lyrics about obscure subjects married to some sort of emo punk/rap hybrid to make it slightly more relevant. The song titles and few lyrics printed on the sleeve then made me think I had made a serious purchasing error as the Italian prog band became a Spanish group with serious dictionary and/or thesaurus problems. Sample title: Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of). I don’t know what it means either.

Then I listened to the music.

They’ve been called a punk Yes, a weird blend of Zeppelin, Santana, early Floyd and Iggy Pop. All true, yet they blend these elements and come up with an infectious sound that grows on each listening. There is a density of music going on and it is fun to pick out the references, a little Whole Lotta Love hi-hat in Son et Lumiere, a little latin rock groove in Drunkship of Lanterns, but references alone do not make a good album.

The style of music shifts from track to track but the band doesn’t lose sight of melody and even in the heaviest moments, courtesy of buzz saw guitar and manic, propulsive drumming, you can sense a yearning and beauty in the vocals. The lyrics don't make much sense to me but they work quite well if you take them just another instrument. Some of the spacier moments tend to feel slightly overlong, but that’s only because there has been so much music preceding the quiet parts that they don’t quite work as a respite and can sound slightly disjointed.

One song where it does work is in the above mentioned Roulette Dares, the strongest track. With a wailing lead vocal that resembles a seriously pissed off Geddy Lee, the guitar break before the chorus played at loud volumes will have you playing air guitar while jogging in the park. Recommended.