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Although their previous band's demise ultimately arrived before they were able to truly capitalize on their mounting commercial triumphs, the Mars Volta immediately impressed with their willingness to eschew conventional logic and push themselves into new artistic directions instead of opting for the more marketable sounds. Interestingly, their progressive yet streamlined approach gave them the early lead among critics against their former bandmates in Sparta, the more emo-leaning of the bands resulting from the split. Enlisting friends Ikey Owens (also of the Long Beach Dub All-Stars) and Jeremy Michael Ward onboard, having played with both in their progressive dub side project De Facto, their debut EP, Tremulant, arrived in 2002. Still, as much of their reputation was built on the strength of their live show, their highly energetic performances resulted in a wave of word-of-mouth hype that elevated the band to near-mythic proportions because so little of their recorded material was available to the public. Sadly, Ward passed away May 25, 2003 from an apparent drug overdose at the age of 27. Mars Volta had recently returned from an European tour supporting the Red Hot Chilis Peppers where they introduced brand new tracks from their full-length debut. Headlinging gigs across North America in support of De-Loused in the Comatorium, were uncertain.
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