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De-Loused in the Comatorium
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 29, 2022
This story left me speechless. This is an odd odyssey of an artist who overdoses on rat poison mixed with morphine, and is left in such awe of the dreamworld he finds himself in during his coma that once he reawakens to reality, all he wants to do is go back, and proper this time. This text is a manifesto of coping by one of his grieving friends, who tries to understand what made Cerpin Taxt take his own life (no spoilers, the plot starts at his death). And all this was the blueprint for The Mars Volta's debut concept album of the same name, whose lyrics are interspersed in this legendary short-story. A story that (afaik) has never been officially printed, but only distributed through online forums and copyshop prints. What an artefact.
Hard to read at first due to its cryptic and psychedelic language, but what an amazing and unique accomplishment this is. It goes down a path I've never seen the likes of, and twists and turns the upside-down hero journey of Cerpin Taxt through the hallucinatory realm of the Comatorium and the Tremulants inhabiting it, all while being written in a thesaurus-dripping language David Foster Wallace would've at least been fond of.
Somewhat like Narnia, if what got into the fantasy world weren't just the streetlamps and trains and other sfw things but also drugs, lepers, bloody revolutions (lead by an exile riding something like an LSD-pimped archaeopteryx, so I guess "more drugs" should make the list) and, discretion advised, suicide.
Why discretion explicitly for suicide? Because while all this may seem like Fear and Loathing in Alice's Wonderland, its framework is sadly based on very true events. The figure of Cerpin Taxt represents a close friend of Bixler-Zavala, who tragically passed under these circumstances. If you are sensitive to the topic, avoid this story, because drawn-out descriptions of Cerpins first attempt at, and finally carried out suicide are included.
Hard to read at first due to its cryptic and psychedelic language, but what an amazing and unique accomplishment this is. It goes down a path I've never seen the likes of, and twists and turns the upside-down hero journey of Cerpin Taxt through the hallucinatory realm of the Comatorium and the Tremulants inhabiting it, all while being written in a thesaurus-dripping language David Foster Wallace would've at least been fond of.
Somewhat like Narnia, if what got into the fantasy world weren't just the streetlamps and trains and other sfw things but also drugs, lepers, bloody revolutions (lead by an exile riding something like an LSD-pimped archaeopteryx, so I guess "more drugs" should make the list) and, discretion advised, suicide.
Why discretion explicitly for suicide? Because while all this may seem like Fear and Loathing in Alice's Wonderland, its framework is sadly based on very true events. The figure of Cerpin Taxt represents a close friend of Bixler-Zavala, who tragically passed under these circumstances. If you are sensitive to the topic, avoid this story, because drawn-out descriptions of Cerpins first attempt at, and finally carried out suicide are included.
April 22, 2021
"His essence unglued itself from the asphalt, leaving behind a syrup of red, for his
body was the feast, served on beds of ancestral curses. Now, that feared chalk outline would close in
circumference only around the temple of his ruins. On the underpass in downtown Rezjua, Cerpin left a tale, as it forever stained the ground he hit on that jealous cold leach afternoon. No one knew what hit them. The accusations flew from angles far and deprived. Who was to blame for the death of Cerpin Taxt?
[...]
Cerpin had choosen his path. Was it everybody else who had already died? Against a sandpapered kiss,
bidding for the farewell bet, was lost the soul of Cerpin Taxt."
body was the feast, served on beds of ancestral curses. Now, that feared chalk outline would close in
circumference only around the temple of his ruins. On the underpass in downtown Rezjua, Cerpin left a tale, as it forever stained the ground he hit on that jealous cold leach afternoon. No one knew what hit them. The accusations flew from angles far and deprived. Who was to blame for the death of Cerpin Taxt?
[...]
Cerpin had choosen his path. Was it everybody else who had already died? Against a sandpapered kiss,
bidding for the farewell bet, was lost the soul of Cerpin Taxt."
March 14, 2019
Mi opinión en palabras de Paty Chapoy: “Muy interesante pero muy estraño”.
Amo el concepto de esta historia, sobretodo por el disco y su propósito. Es un texto bastante difícil porque si de por sí toda la psicodélia que lo rodea es confusa, la manera en la que está escrito lo hace aún más inaccesible.
Creo que la simpleza es una virtud y este libro carece de ella, por eso le doy 3 estrellas. El concepto rebasa por mucho la ejecución.
Amo el concepto de esta historia, sobretodo por el disco y su propósito. Es un texto bastante difícil porque si de por sí toda la psicodélia que lo rodea es confusa, la manera en la que está escrito lo hace aún más inaccesible.
Creo que la simpleza es una virtud y este libro carece de ella, por eso le doy 3 estrellas. El concepto rebasa por mucho la ejecución.
December 4, 2012
This short story was hard to read. The writing isn't the smoothest and you must keep in mind that Cedric loves to write cryptically and poetically. That said, he leads you into this strange, dark world that I thoroughly enjoyed, partially because this is the story that inspired the album. It may be difficult and lack the best authorship, but I recommend it. If only they would make a movie out of this story.
January 5, 2025
one of the most impactful and tragic things i’ve ever read. genuine and perplexing work of art. sometimes i didn’t know a word so i’d look it up and it did not exist, and that’s awesome. utterly fascinating and an amazing read if you love the album like i do. it really hits home if you’re.. well you know.
i’m gonna be rereading this one for a while to truly grasp it, and even then i probably never will. i really really wish that a surgeon with paws(?) would give a new winged dinosaur form but whatever . what i wouldn’t give to have a full length amv of sorts illustrating this story using the album
being aware of the truth behind it just makes it all the more heartbreaking. i’m going to be thinking about this for a very long time.
GOD there’s so much to say!!!!!!! but i’m gonna go listen to deloused now bye
i’m gonna be rereading this one for a while to truly grasp it, and even then i probably never will. i really really wish that a surgeon with paws(?) would give a new winged dinosaur form but whatever . what i wouldn’t give to have a full length amv of sorts illustrating this story using the album
being aware of the truth behind it just makes it all the more heartbreaking. i’m going to be thinking about this for a very long time.
GOD there’s so much to say!!!!!!! but i’m gonna go listen to deloused now bye
July 14, 2014
I was a huge At the Drive-In fan, and when The Mars Volta formed shortly after their hiatus, I was hooked. This band played a significant role in my approach to guitar and writing, and while I can't say I've kept up on their current releases, this album is one of my favorites. This short volume is what The Mars Volta's first full-length album is based upon. Reading this has made me appreciate not only the album, but also Cedric's ability to write incredibly well-crafted lyrics and sentences. Reading this without listening to the album would be missing some very vital pieces, but for fans of the band who love "Deloused in the Comatorium", this comes heavily recommended.
December 8, 2025
The Mars Volta is one of my favorite bands of all time, and their debut album, De-Loused in the Comatorium, is still my favorite of their discography. I can't believe I didn't find this companion book earlier.
This companion book is an expansion on the story of the album, in which a man overdoses on rat poison and morphine, and has grand visions during his coma, before waking up and committing suicide. Much like the lyrics (which are interspersed through this book in sections that serve as intermissions between passages), the prose is incredibly cryptic and the narrative abstract. It simultaneously provided a lot of context behind many of the songs, and left me with even more questions. As a fan, this is everything I could've asked for. But as a reader, this does feel a bit amateur.
While the opening of this story is incredibly vivid and poetic in its description, the middle section of this story is wildly inconsistent. It often feels like a first draft, with poor grammar and spelling making an already hard to read story even harder. The POV of the narrator also shifts around frequently, but their voices blend together to be indecipherable. And I wouldn't say the comatose dream of Cerpin Taxt has no purpose to the narrative (this isn't an "it's all a dream" story), but it does stray far into unreality to a point where it feels like it's too far removed from the psyche of Cerpin.
Despite the heavy connection to its source material, I do think this story can stand on its own. It may lack the brilliant cacophany of sound that the instrumentals bring to compliment the cryptic lyrics of the album, but it makes up for it with a unique voice that may take a couple re-reads to fully appreciate its ability to paint a mental picture.
This companion book is an expansion on the story of the album, in which a man overdoses on rat poison and morphine, and has grand visions during his coma, before waking up and committing suicide. Much like the lyrics (which are interspersed through this book in sections that serve as intermissions between passages), the prose is incredibly cryptic and the narrative abstract. It simultaneously provided a lot of context behind many of the songs, and left me with even more questions. As a fan, this is everything I could've asked for. But as a reader, this does feel a bit amateur.
While the opening of this story is incredibly vivid and poetic in its description, the middle section of this story is wildly inconsistent. It often feels like a first draft, with poor grammar and spelling making an already hard to read story even harder. The POV of the narrator also shifts around frequently, but their voices blend together to be indecipherable. And I wouldn't say the comatose dream of Cerpin Taxt has no purpose to the narrative (this isn't an "it's all a dream" story), but it does stray far into unreality to a point where it feels like it's too far removed from the psyche of Cerpin.
Despite the heavy connection to its source material, I do think this story can stand on its own. It may lack the brilliant cacophany of sound that the instrumentals bring to compliment the cryptic lyrics of the album, but it makes up for it with a unique voice that may take a couple re-reads to fully appreciate its ability to paint a mental picture.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 30, 2021
Excessively avant-garde in its imagery and word choice to the point of being nearly stroke-inducing. There comes a point when the pursuit of cryptic meaning begins to take a toll on the legibility of the piece as a whole; Bixler-Zevala goes far beyond that. Perhaps the point is to muddle everything down in the wordiness and ambiguity, as to convey what the protagonist is experiencing; however, while the way it is done in the story version of De-loused in the Comatorium may be masterful when in lyrical format, it is literary diarrhea in prose.
These are my initial impressions a few pages in. I will update the review once I have slogged through reading the entire thing. God help me.
These are my initial impressions a few pages in. I will update the review once I have slogged through reading the entire thing. God help me.
January 5, 2025
The beautiful and heartbreaking (true) story behind one of my favorite albums of all time. This story will make you sad, but the album will make you want to die. A+ all around.
June 25, 2025
good book, helped me understand the album a bit more. a little hard to read though... spent alot of time trying to figure out all the metaphors and stuff
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews