Fantômas (band)
Fantômas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | California, USA |
| Genres | Experimental Avant-garde metal |
| Years active | 1998–Present |
| Labels | Ipecac |
| Members | Mike Patton Buzz Osborne Trevor Dunn Dave Lombardo Dale Crover (touring member) |
| Past members | Terry Bozzio (touring member) |
| Website | ipecac.com/bio.php?id=3 Ipecac Website |
Fantômas is an avant-garde metal supergroup formed in 1998 in California, United States. The band is named after Fantômas, a supervillain featured in a series of crime novels popular in France before World War I and in film, most notably in the 60s French movie series.
History
Fantômas began just before the collapse of Faith No More as a series of spasmic, avant-garde metal songs composed by vocalist and bandleader Mike Patton. Patton then sent the demos to guitarist Buzz Osborne (of The Melvins), bassist Trevor Dunn (of Mr. Bungle) and drummer Igor Cavalera (of Sepultura) with the intention of forming a supergroup. Cavalera declined the offer, but recommended who he thought would be perfect for the project: Dave Lombardo of Slayer, who accepted.[1][2]
In mid-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] In November 2008, Rock-A-Rolla, a UK-based alternative music magazine, exclusively revealed on their website that the new album is currently being worked on and a tentative June 2009 release is possible,[5] however in the May/June 2009 issue of Rock-A-Rolla, in an interview with Greg Werckman, Werckman stated that Mike "hasn't even begun" recording the next Fantômas record.[6]
Style
Though rooted in avant-garde metal, their music touches on many different musical genres, making liberal use of experimentalism and noise. Fantômas' music is also noted for its absurdism and offbeat sense of humor; one critic dubbed their style "dada-metal,"[7] a reference to the "anti-art" dada movement of the early 1900s. Critic Greg Prato describes their music as "completely original…especially when compared to the blah and predictable alt-rock of the late '90s."[8] Patton rarely sings conventional lyrics with the group, preferring his own bizarre style of voice music or scat singing.
The band arrange albums around concepts or themes:
- Fantômas (aka Amenaza Al Mundo) is 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 is 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 as the theme from The Godfather tackled in part as a thrash metal song).
- Delìrium Còrdia is 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 featuring the art of contemporary Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara.
Non-album songs
Fantômas have also performed a few songs which do not 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 organized the release of an album known as The Unknown Masada. Fantômas contributed this song to the release. The song was arranged by Trevor Dunn, and is one of the only songs by Fantômas not to have been written or arranged by Mike Patton.
- Where Is The Line (Fantômas Remix) (5:28) - Released as a B-Side on Björk's "Where Is The Line" Vinyl release.
- "Animale In Calore Surriscaldati Con Ipertermia Genitale" (0:44) - Released on the Fantômas / Melt-Banana split through Unhip Records in 2005. The cover art was drawn by Italian artist Igort.
Members
- Mike Patton (vocals/noise, keyboard, melodica, sampling)
- Buzz Osborne (guitar)
- Trevor Dunn (bass)
- Dave Lombardo (drums)
- Dale Crover (drums)
- Terry Bozzio (drums)
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [9] |
US Heat. [9] |
US Ind. [9] |
AUS [10] |
FRA [11] |
SWE [12] | ||||
| 1999 | Fantômas | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001 | The Director's Cut
|
— | — | 30 | 18 | — | — | ||
| 2004 | Delìrium Còrdia
|
183 | 7[13] | 7 | — | 118 | — | ||
| 2005 | Suspended Animation
|
153 | 7[14] | 12 | 49 | 129 | 43 | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||
Live albums
| Year | Album details | US Heat. |
US Ind. [9] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Millennium Monsterwork 2000 (as The Fantômas/Melvins Big Band)
|
45[15] | 21 |
Split albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Animali in Calore Surriscaldati con Ipertermia Genitale/Cat in Red (with Melt-Banana)
|
Video albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Live from London 2006
|
Footnotes
- ^ Zulaica, Don (1999-07-05). "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. 2005-09-02. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
- ^ Prato, Greg (2006-05-12). "Patton Juggling Numerous New Projects". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ Mike Patton Preps New Fantomas and Mondo Cane Albums!
- ^ Rock-A-Rolla Issue 20, May/June 2009 Rock-A-Rolla Website
- ^ "Fantômas & The Avant-Garde". fantomas-lives.com. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ Prato, Greg. "Fantômas > Biography". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ a b c d "Fantômas > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "Discography Fantomas". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "Discographie Fantomas" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "Discography Fantomas". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "Fantômas > Delìrium Còrdia > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
- ^ "Fantômas > Suspended Animation > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
- ^ "Fantômas > Millenium Monsterwork 2000 > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-04-06.