DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM

Anyone can throw stuff at the wall and wait to see what sticks. And at first blush The Mars Volta can be misunderstood as doing just that. We know that they've created something underneath the apparent mess, but sometimes its difficult to understand just what it is. But just like classic Yes, The Mars Volta with DELOUSED show us that they are not just throwing stuff at the wall: they are very aware of the colors they choose from their palette and they can envision what they will look like when they're splashed over the abstractions already spattered there, even if they don't completely understand it, themselves. There is a certain deliberateness here, a melodic foundation that carries the work beyond pointless masturbation. But there is also a liberating willingness to explore within the confines of that deliberation, and it is here where Apollo and Dionysus are both given free reign; both chaos and order respected.

Take Eria Tarka for example. Listen to the melodic guitar plucking provide the base for an emotion at all times about to burst (and it will). Listen to the lead guitar whine its way over those notes not unlike a dolphin trying to find its way through a dark underwater cave. The undulations break into a chaotic barrage of riff and drum only to somehow find their way back home after the disruption's been given its time. Or Roulette Dares. Listen to the guitar frolic its way over the mellotron cloud as Cedric brings it all together with some subtle vocal stylings. Or the relentless buildups of Drunkship of Lanterns as each section fools you that it could be the real deal before seamlessly melting into another developmental section.

Unlike some of the band's later releases, everything here seems purposeful. Even the chaos. I'm not sure if the band knows what it all means, but that doesn't bother me. As long as they know that it means something.