After leaving At the Drive-In, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler Zavala went onto create the Mars Volta. A beautiful, dangerous and ground breaking group that is sure to set the standards for all experimental rock, if not all rock bands to come. The first full length album, courislly titled, “De-Loused in the Comatorium” proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt.
The album, made pretty much right after leaving AtDI, if not before, is jaw dropping. Cedric voice, although known mostly now days as the high pitch serpent that it is, is reeling back and forward between its post-hardcore rants to an almost Robert Plant sound, spouting out the overly difficult to follow lyrics. His words are passionate, though, filled with lo
ve and pain. It makes sense once you understand about the back-ground of the album and who inspired it. Omar playing and band directing, however, is remarkable. He brings a sound that we’ve all heard before in Spanish music, but twists it and turns it from traditional to rock ballets and then to some other form of music. Cedric voice is one thing, but it is Omar’s arrangements that make the album.
The album artwork is pretty cool itself. Throughout the pages holds random quotes, drawing, and information to decode the album and the story that it tells. From research that I’ve found, the story follows a character named Cerpin Taxt who overdoses on painkillers and is taken into a inder world where all of his creations have come to life. All of this happens while he’s in coma. He finally wakes to find that the world is left is much better than the world he’s living in and kills himself….I’m not kidding.
The one down side to the album is the band’s used of ambient sound-scape. For instance, the song, “Cicatriz ESP” is 12 minutes and 29 seconds long, give or take your computer or cd-player. However, a long muffling occurs around 6:00 minutes in with the music falling out from behind it. The music then picks back up around 9:20. 3 minutes of ambient and random guitar playing. I guess it might be a cooling down period for the listener but still, 3 minutes is a little overkill. The other downside is the story. The album booklet doesn’t come with the lyrics but you could’ve brought a little booklet that tells you the story, confusingly and give you the lyrics. I didn’t like that idea but it worked in the long run, I guess.
Over all though I enjoyed the album, it is exciting and confusing as it is haunting and beautiful. It begins as abruptly as it ends. It’s a defining moment in music that cannot be passed up. Go get this album, it’s worth the money. 5 out of 5 stars. Enjoy the music folks.
Cheers!
The album, made pretty much right after leaving AtDI, if not before, is jaw dropping. Cedric voice, although known mostly now days as the high pitch serpent that it is, is reeling back and forward between its post-hardcore rants to an almost Robert Plant sound, spouting out the overly difficult to follow lyrics. His words are passionate, though, filled with lo
ve and pain. It makes sense once you understand about the back-ground of the album and who inspired it. Omar playing and band directing, however, is remarkable. He brings a sound that we’ve all heard before in Spanish music, but twists it and turns it from traditional to rock ballets and then to some other form of music. Cedric voice is one thing, but it is Omar’s arrangements that make the album.The album artwork is pretty cool itself. Throughout the pages holds random quotes, drawing, and information to decode the album and the story that it tells. From research that I’ve found, the story follows a character named Cerpin Taxt who overdoses on painkillers and is taken into a inder world where all of his creations have come to life. All of this happens while he’s in coma. He finally wakes to find that the world is left is much better than the world he’s living in and kills himself….I’m not kidding.
The one down side to the album is the band’s used of ambient sound-scape. For instance, the song, “Cicatriz ESP” is 12 minutes and 29 seconds long, give or take your computer or cd-player. However, a long muffling occurs around 6:00 minutes in with the music falling out from behind it. The music then picks back up around 9:20. 3 minutes of ambient and random guitar playing. I guess it might be a cooling down period for the listener but still, 3 minutes is a little overkill. The other downside is the story. The album booklet doesn’t come with the lyrics but you could’ve brought a little booklet that tells you the story, confusingly and give you the lyrics. I didn’t like that idea but it worked in the long run, I guess.
Over all though I enjoyed the album, it is exciting and confusing as it is haunting and beautiful. It begins as abruptly as it ends. It’s a defining moment in music that cannot be passed up. Go get this album, it’s worth the money. 5 out of 5 stars. Enjoy the music folks.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment