"De-Loused in the Comatorium" is one of the best real rock albums I've heard in quite some time. With fast riffs and awesome lyrics, this is a relief to any real rocker's ear-drums. This album, released in June, is real hard-core punk, but they also seemed to have incorporated a softer side.

As if you're watching Sid Vicious cry, the songs are filled with compassion but are still hard enough to be considered punk. Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez, formerly of the late ྖs emo-punk band At the Drive-In, have taken their old band's awesomely heavy attack as a starting point for adrenaline-driven forays into art-house punk. I consider this CD the best released this year.

Though they would be classified as punk, I feel I am lying when I say that they are. In songs like "Lost," there is a certain vibe that I haven't found anywhere else. The Mars Volta may be part punk, but their sound is so original there is no way you could mix them up with the other so-called "punk" bands out there.

Selling big in the Northeast and on the college circuit, The Mars Volta have just enough popularity so that they haven't been turned into corporate puppet punks, yet they have been noticed and are getting the recognition they deserve. Universal Records picked them up and the rest is history.

With Bixler wailing like Geddy Lee, his voice is unmistakable over the heavy riffs. I see no reason for anyone who truly appreciates rock not to get this CD. The Mars Volta are so awesome that they could get their message across without being slapped with a censor sticker. It is also said that Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers makes an appearance on the album, but you're going to have to check that out for yourself.