Albums2010 Revisited: Deloused In The Comatorium

The Mars Volta never made it to the original run of Albums2010, but they should have, because they were a band that I flirted with time and time again back when I was in college. I have this weird nostalgia for the print magazines of old. Newsweek was a staple of my childhood. One of my favorite things to do in college was to go downtown to Prairie Lights and get a copy of The Economist and then go next door and get a good bowl of Krith-A-Raki from Z'Mariks and sit in the window seat and read it and eat my lunch. But weirdly, the more I think of my college years, the magazine that I remember is Entertainment Weekly.

EW used to be my main source of television, movie, and music news-- I'd get previews of upcoming fall shows (back when the TV season was more of a concrete feature of the calendar than it is now), and I'd also get music news there. And I remember reading reviews of this album when it first came out and thinking that it sounded interesting. A blend of musical genres that appealed to me. But for whatever reason, I never actually grabbed the album to listen to it.

Thanks to the magic of Spotify (at least on a computer-- I don't have premium), I can rectify that mistake.

Working my way through this album, I think that old EW review hit the nail on the head. This is a blend of musical influences and genres that is unique. It's also an album that defies easy categorization. It's obviously got elements of prog rock all over it. You've got big, bombastic tracks like 'Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)' which clocks in at seven and a half minutes, 'Drunkship of Lanterns' goes for seven minutes, and the most epic track of all, 'Cicatriz Esp' which clocks in at twelve and a half minutes. If you like Rush, if you like Coheed and Cambria or any type of big, epic prog rock, you're probably going to like this album on the basis of those three tracks alone.

'Cicatriz Esp' is the track that I think illustrates the depth of what The Mars Volta can play with in terms of influences and sounds. There are touches of psychedelic rock (a la Pink Floyd) here and there throughout the album ('Tira Me A Las Aranas' is a transitional track that's a perfect example of  a definite shift/palate cleanser that plays with that kind of sound.) But 'Cicatriz Esp' goes full-bore prog/psychedelic epic track, and then just when you think you've got it figured out, it drops into a Latin-infused drum solo/beat that could be straight out of an old school Santana album. ('Drunkship Lanterns' has a distinct Latin drum beat to open it as well.)

On my initial run through of this album, I wasn't sure about it. I'll listen to just about anything once, but some music I'll come back to again and again, and I genuinely wasn't sure. It was big, it was bombastic, and it was loud, and that's usually not my kind of music. But the more I listened to this album, the more interesting I found it. When I dug around in their Spotify 'About the artist' page, I got even more curious. This is one portion of their discography-- but it sounds like when it comes to trying new things and exploring new sounds, The Mars Volta goes all kinds of different places, artistically- and honestly, it makes me want to listen to more of their stuff to see how their sound changes and evolves over time. When a 2022 single of theirs is described as a 'mutant-neo-soul-cum-jazz-funk and cumbia single,' the first thing that comes to mind is "What the hell could that possibly sound like?" Followed by "Damn, I'll have to check that out."

If you are a fan of prog rock, this is an album you should check out. If nothing else, this album convinced me to listen to more of The Mars Volta, and what more could you ask for if someone listens to an album and finds themselves interested enough to want to check out more?