The Mars Volta, formed out of the ashes of At the Drive-In by Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, have come a long way since releasing this album nearly ten years ago, their debut De-loused in the Comatorium. And while there's not a single album of theirs I dislike, I have found their output to be quite inconsistent. Frances the Mute and The Bedlam in Goliath both being fantastic prog-rock albums whereas Amputechture and especially Octahedron left me slightly unimpressed. This might be partially caused by the high expectations they have set for themselves by releasing this album as the first one of their career. While I wouldn't say The Mars Volta have been gradually becoming worse, I do think that they peaked prematurely with this, their most intricate and fierce record to date.

For anyone new to The Mars Volta every song is like a big puzzle consisting of a ton of tiny pieces which only get put together gradually after multiple listens. This might be quite overwhelming at first, the band throwing at you one odd time signature after another, coupled with biting guitarwork, jazz breaks and moments of ambience, all while keeping the intensity at a maximum most of the time, the only true breather being Televators, a gorgeous Latin-influenced ballad. Songs such as Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of) and the Latin-influenced (yes, again!) Drunkship of Lanterns might sound like utter chaos at first, their ingenious, complex structures concealed by all the twists and turns the band throw at you.

I'd love nothing more than to tell you every single song on this album is perfect but unfortunately that is not the case, with Cicatriz ESP and This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed making up for a good fifteen minutes of less impressive material. Cicatriz ESP starts off as another great song but leads into a wearing, long-winded ambient section which, frankly, wastes five minutes of your time, eventually picking up where it left off, making you wonder why they bothered with that five minute nap anyway. The problem with This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed is that it's just not up to par with the rest of the material that surrounds it (excluding the second half of Cicatriz ESP obviously). No need to despair though for The Mars Volta saved two of the best tracks for last: the aforementioned ballad Televators and the terrific closer Take the Veil Carpin Taxt which combines the band's best traits in one song (with an ambient section that actually works).

What makes this album stand out, not only in The Mars Volta's discography, is that this is the ultimate combination of the band's complexity and progressiveness and At the Drive-In's crude force and intensity. Despite two songs that for the most part fail to maintain one's interest this still is the highlight of The Mars Volta career, a demanding yet rewarding album that is a mandatory listen for any prog fan.