There is an under-rated and very ecclesiastical hall of fame in the music world that is usually over-looked or simply not noticed. This hall of fame is music that you can wear leather too, and the Mars Volta should be the inductee for this year.

Their music is a fusion of all things rock with a Latin twist. Mars Volta, the remains of At the Drive In, show that jams and extended guitar solos don’t have to be etched in a blue stone. They show that twelve-minute jams don’t come in the form of a freight train, Allman Brothers style blues rock style or the seemingly drug-induced brain vacations into the ethereal that are now commanded by Sigur Ros. Mars Volta are something new, different, and seemingly familiar. When de-loused in the comatorium hits you’re ears it makes sense. It may not be for everyone, but everyone should hear it. Drunkship of Lantern’s has the shredding guitar chords, hints of space-jets of guitar solos and high-pitched screaming and sung vocals of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Cicatriz Esp, their 12 minute powerhouse, shows the psychedelic appeal of Mars Volta. And the rest of the album, with songs varying in time from a minute 35 to 8:42, show case a wholly ideal and self-enclosed movement in modern popular rock. Mars Volta are weird, and take you a trip through their own brand of music on the wings of some force hidden in the lyrics and electric surge of Roulette Dares and Eriatarka, the Mars Volta are a force to be reckoned with, and something tells me they will try a completely different approach the next time they sit down to create a masterpiece of an album.