Later this year, the Mars Volta will be re-issuing their beloved debut LP De-loused in the Comatorium, remastered by Rick Rubin using a state-of-the-art AI-mastering website and featuring a 94-page booklet of diagrams and related treatises written in braille. However, the coup de grâce may very well be all the other shit included here!
Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s evocative yet impenetrable lyrics have been a topic of great discussion amongst the Latino prog-leaning sci-fi punk community for over two decades now. But with the addition of all this extra shit that they crammed into the box set, fans no longer need to quibble over the meaning of “exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed” because it’s all right here! Aiming to shut down accusations that their lyrics are nothing more than nonsensical prattle, the band has included a handful of lyrically-inspired nonsensical trinkets that are sure to provide further insight into the album’s narrative arc!
So what’s included? Excellent question! Within the contents of the box, which is really more of a geodesic dome that can only be unlocked by using a series of morse code fingertapped on the lattice shell’s underbelly, is approximately one exoskeletal junction replica (batteries are not included), a boxcar cadaver that is reversible and reusable, and a gossamer veil shrouded by the visage of Cerpin Taxt (Careful! Very fragile!) But how does it all work?
Well… Wait, what do you mean? The stuff doesn’t “work” per se; I mean it’s functional, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that the functions are not exactly known (Full disclosure, I cannot read braille, so there may be more context outlined in the accompanying booklet, but probably not.) So anyways, no yeah, it’s kinda like if the dome is giving birth to these artifacts, if that makes sense? They are meant to be tokens of a deathbed fever dream basically. So like, the exoskeletal junction, or what we believe the exoskeletal junction to be, is the main hub that houses the circuitous outboard whereby the smaller pieces can interlock and assimilate. Think of it like a charging port but way less straightforward. And then from there, you know, it’s kinda up for interpretation!
Either way, the thoughtful curation of all this extra shit will be sure to excite Mars Volta fans everywhere. You simply have not heard “Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)” until you’ve actually played with a boxcar cadaver (assuming it’s the thing that has wheels and that you are supposed to be playing with this stuff).
