Fantômas (band)
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Fantômas is an avant-garde metal band formed in 1998 in California, United States. The band is named after Fantômas, a villain featured in a series of crime novels popular in France before World War I.
History
The band was formed when singer Mike Patton composed a handful of spasmic, avant-garde metal songs just before the collapse of his earlier group, Faith No More. Patton then sent the original compositions to his friends, hoping to form a performing group: guitarist Buzz Osborne (of The Melvins), bassist Trevor Dunn (also of Mr. Bungle, the band he and Patton formed in high school) and drummer Igor Cavalera (of Sepultura). Cavalera declined the offer, but recommended who he thought would be perfect for the project: Dave Lombardo of Slayer. Lombardo accepted and thus was formed Patton's own supergroup.[1][2]
In summer of 2005 the band toured Europe with Terry Bozzio on drums, because Lombardo was on tour with Slayer. Lombardo returned to the band for the final dates of the tour, which concluded on September 15, 2005, however, there are rumours that Bozzio will perform drumming duties on a future Fantômas album.[3]
On May 13, 2006, Patton revealed to Billboard.com that a fifth Fantômas album has been planned. Of the album, Patton says "The next record is going to be an all-electronic affair. It's going to take some creative planning on how to record it and execute it, but there will be no acoustic instruments on it whatsoever. We're pretty much about to go into hibernation mode. I need to, once I have a little time, go back to the drawing board, and start writing the next one."[4]
Style
Though rooted in heavy metal, their music actually touches on many different musical genres, and is noted for its offbeat sense of humor; one critic has dubbed their style "dada-metal".[5] Critic Greg Prato describes their music as "completely original ... especially when compared to the blah and predictable alt-rock of the late '90s."[6] Patton rarely sings conventional lyrics with the group, preferring his own bizarre style of voice music or scat singing.
Fantômas songs are often discordant and tuneless, using feedback and pure noise, and they could easily be described as progressive noise. However, they are not a pure noise band as they do have concrete beats and melodies in most of their songs. They are a unique combination of noise and progressive psychedelia.
They also arrange albums around strange concepts or themes:
- Fantômas (Amenaza Al Mundo) was based on science fiction comic books, with every song simply given a page number (Page 1, Page 2 etc.). The artwork was mainly taken from the Italian comic Diabolik.
- The Director's Cut was a series of reinterpretations of motion picture theme songs. Some versions are rather loyal to the sources (such as the eerie lullabye from The Night of the Hunter), while others offer radical takes on the music (such the theme from The Godfather tackled in part as a thrash metal song).
- Delìrium Còrdia was one extended song, with the concept of surgery without anesthesia.
- Suspended Animation (Recorded in the same sessions as Delìrium Còrdia) is an album of twisted cartoon music, each track named after a day in the month of April 2005, and the limited-edition, first pressing of the album was itself (literally) a calendar of the month.
Non-album Songs
Fantômas have also done a small amount of songs which don't appear on their albums.
- Chariot Choogle (1:51) - A cover of the song by T-Rex, released on the album "Great Jewish Music: Marc Bolan". Mike Patton recorded this cover and attributed it to Fantômas.
- Zemariam (3:36) - A version of the song which John Zorn had originally written for his band, Masada but eventually never performed nor recorded. To celebrate Masada's 10th Anniversary John Zorn organised the release of an album known as "The Unknown Masada". Fantômas contributed this song to the release.
- Where Is The Line (Fantômas Remix) (5:28) - Released as a B-Side on Björk's "Where Is The Line" Vinyl release.
Members
Discography
| Album Cover | Date of Release | Title | Label | Catalog Number |
 |
April 26, 1999 | Fantômas | Ipecac Recordings | IPC-001 |
 |
July 9, 2001 | The Director's Cut | Ipecac Recordings | IPC-017 |
 |
April 1, 2002 | Millennium Monsterwork 2000 | Ipecac Recordings | IPC-019 |
 |
January 27, 2004 | Delìrium Còrdia | Ipecac Recordings | IPC-045 |
 |
June 14, 2005 | Suspended Animation | Ipecac Recordings | IPC-065 |
| August, 2005 | Animali In Calore Surriscaldati Con Ipertermia Genitale/Cat in Red (Split 5" Vinyl / 3" CD with Melt-Banana) | Unhip Records | Unhip5 |
Footnotes
- ^ Zulaica, Don (5 July 1999). "Even Better Than the Real Thing? - Mike Patton Puts His Faith in Fantomas and Mr. Bungle". BAM magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ Burton, Brent. "Fantômas Suspended Animation Review". Decibel Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ "Patton has ideas for upcoming Fantomas albums". Caca Volante. September 2 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Prato, Greg (May 12 2006). "Patton Juggling Numerous New Projects". billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Fantomas". fantomas-lives.com. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ Prato, Greg. "Fantômas Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-06.