After months of performing ritualistic fellatio on 2005's Frances the Mute, the cultlike Church of Mars Volta shifted its focus to the coming of Amputechture. "Viscera Eyes" cuts in without the courtesy of a sacramental handshake, leaping abruptly from submerged ambience to layers of epic-but-robotic (Mars Voltron?) posturing. Frightening singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala uses two languages to roll out the weirdo Dali imagery — crowns of maggots, glass eyes, the usual. Also, judging by his violent, maelstrom-inducing fretwork, City of God-lookin' guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez still has a beef with metronomes. At six minutes, the storm dissipates, making way for a bleak, dub-inflected bassline that gains speed by the second. Here, Omar grows progressively discordant, as if he's sinking into lava and wants to perform as many tricks as possible before his arms melt off. At nine minutes, right before Cedric finishes in a fit of uninspired falsetto squealing, you might be left wondering how much time's left in the service. Sure, parishioners are tossing this shit back like blessed communion wine. To the rest of us it tastes like grape juice.