the mars volta

de-loused in the comatorium

‘To say that Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez have had a lasting impact on the music is an understatement. The extent of their reach stretches far beyond the boundaries of music. Take a look around. If you’ve seen an anorexic-looking waif of a white boy with a metal-studded belt and an Afro that comes close to doubling his weight, you have seen a small ray in the spectrum of influence that these two gentleman, the musical masterminds behind The Mars Volta, have had.

Bixler and Rodriguez are unshakable entities that have harnessed the uncanny ability to reshape the music world around that which they see fit to have created. They are musical geniuses, pioneering forefathers of our time. To some, they may never shake the tag of their past as founding members of At The Drive-In. To others, they are simply deities that, no matter what they do, will be worshipped unconditionally.

Unfortunately, immortality is not synonymous with musical deity. Death has surrounded this album. Shortly before the album’s release, keyboardist/sound/manipulator James Ward was found dead in his L.A. home.rnrnIn addition, “De-Loused” itself is about a death. This concept album is a fictional spiel whose protagonist attempts suicide. Instead, he goes into a coma. When he awakes, he continues on the path upon which he started. This musical montage is a dedication to Julio Venegas, a friend of the band who killed himself during the ATDI recording sessions for “Acrobatic Tenement.” The song “Embroglio” is about him.

Avid fans, as well as some people close to ATDI, blamed their breakup on Bixler and Rodriguez’s starry-eyed lust for a more glamorous sound. It has been said that they wanted to take the band in new directions that would shake ATDI from its foundation and give a big-studio production to their sound. This assertion is verified when you hear the difference between The Mars Volta and Sparta.

While Sparta stuck to the straight-up guitar-rock roots they founded themselves upon, The Mars Volta was destined to walk uncharted grounds. TMV’s first EP, “Tremulant,” was a good sampling of what was soon to come. It continued along the line set out by ATDI’s final album “Relationship of Command.”

The Mars Volta proved with their first EP that they are a sonically dense band that distances itself from distorted guitars in exchange for fuller drums, pounding bass rhythms, and a love for all things electronic.

While it appeared inevitable that TMV would head out in this direction, they have still managed to defy the expectations of anyone offered predictions on the band’s possible music endeavors. “Drunkship of Lanterns” is a good example of this. This song, driven primarily by Flea’s entrancing bass riffs, can easily be mistaken for the work of Rusted Root; a shock that may come to those weaned on Rodriguez’s songwriting talents and Bixler’s enchanting screams. The heavy influence of fellow Latino music icon Santana is strewn throughout this album as well.

The record is occasionally cataclysmic, spewing out bursts of energy that fans have grown to expect from these two feisty fellows. It is a synthetic genius, built on their rewritten musical dogmas as well as the freedom of limitless studio production. It is constantly shifting from one song to the next, leaving you in heightened anticipation for what is just around the bend. It is a tale of friendship and tragedy that will forever become a phantom emotional appendage that will leave you overwhelmed by a sense of loss.