NOTHING COMATOSE HERE

Make no mistake, The Mars Volta are intense. Intense like a pneumatic drill duelling with a Marshall guitar amplifier, intense like a thunderstorm inside a power station, intense like a suicide note from someone you once knew.

Formed in El Paso, Texas by Omar Rodrigues-Lopez (guitar, composition) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), the band has had a large, shifting cast of additional players across their eight albums, a discography that began with De-Loused In The Comatorium in 2003. That debut, with its striking cover art by Hipgnosis co-founder Storm Thorgerson, is our focus today.

It is a concept album; a story inspired, or perhaps invoked, by the death of a friend in real life. On the record, however, the short story unfolds enigmatically through ten songs tracing the journey and dissolution of a character named Cerpin Taxt who falls into a coma after a drug overdose. The songs trace his psycho-emotional wanderings in that altered state, and are as obtuse and symbolic as anyone could ever hope for.

Cedric Bixler-Zavala has a lyrical-vocal style at once adventurous and confronting. There seem to be layers and allusions everywhere, subterranean portals aplenty for those wishing to pursue this particular psychedelic rabbit. Indeed, there are forums devoted to examining and attempting explanations of the song lyrics. Bixler-Zavala himself has acknowledged a debt to two classic 'central character' rock narratives, the Genesis epic The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and S.F. Sorrow by the Pretty Things. De-Loused In The Comatorium takes symbolic, dreamlike story-telling to another level.

Open wrists talk back again in the wounded of its skin

They’ll pinprick the witness in ritual contrition

The AM trinity fell upon asphyxia-derailed

"Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)"

The music matches the intensity of the lyrical content admirably. Shifting tempos and moods constantly, these songs are true to the progressive tradition of dismantling rock protocols and reassembling them into something new. Lots of double-time drumming give a strong prog-metal feel to the loud segments, while reprieve comes in the form of gently psychedelic interludes that evoke a romantic Robert Fripp (King Crimson). Fans of later Porcupine Tree will be well pleased with this hybrid of heavy metal and progressive rock.

The Mars Volta certainly connected with an audience. Despite having very little in the way of promotion or record company push, this debut sold half a million copies, mostly on CD. There was a very limited—and now very expensive—vinyl release at the time and a re-issue in 2014 that is also scarce. Fortunately, the version currently available on the Clouds Hill record label is a beauty. Pressed on coloured vinyl, sky blue for record one and dark green for the second disc, it delivers excellent detail and a huge sound stage. There’s also a poster to mount on your wall if unsettling art is your thing.

The Mars Volta broke up in 2013 but reformed to record new music in 2022, resulting in a self-titled album. This year they recorded an acoustic version of that album, Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazón. No-one knows what will be next for Omar Rodrigues-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala but for now, fans new and old can enjoy the feverish potency of  De-Loused In The Comatorium, their first release as The Mars Volta.

© Bruce Jenkins—July 2023