Early in the formative stages of The Mars Volta, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala distilled the essence of their mission to one simple phrase: "Honour our roots, honour our dead." This mindset found perfect expression in the group's 2003 debut full-length, De-Loused in the Comatorium, a song cycle inspired by the life and death of the duo's old friend, artist and provocateur Julio Venegas. Driven by furious, muscular, syncopated drums and frenetic guitar parts, bending obtuse grooves to its will and twisting off in passionate, cathartic descarga and merging with the iconic work of producer Rick Rubin, De-Loused in the Comatorium became a global phenomenon.