Lost for two decades, the recent rediscovery of Landscape Tantrums – the first attempt at recording the music that would become The Mars Volta’s De-Loused In The Comatorium – revealed an important and hitherto-missing chapter in the group’s evolution.
Self-recorded by Omar (assisted by Jon DeBaun) at Burbank’s Mad Dog Studios within a head-spinning four days, Landscape Tantrums captures De-Loused in somewhat embryonic form, though much of what would make The Mars Volta’s debut album such an electrifying, sublime experience was already in place: the fearless invention, the fusion of futurist rock elements and traditions from outside of the rock orthodoxy, the sense of virtuosity working in service of emotional effect is now available on vinyl.
