I've had this album (and the others from Mars Volta) and although I've given it a couple of spins, I don't really know it very well yet though the overall impression is that it's enjoyable. Reading your review, I'm not really sure wether I should dive headfirst into this or ignore it and rather go for one of the other MV albums. I can say already that I do like the Vermicide song.
Schizophrenic qualities aside, that was a genuinely fun review to read. Great work.
