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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant jump cut record., April 8, 2005
Fantomas' "Suspended Animation" is a great record, not for everyone, certainly. Mike Patton, clearly influenced by John Zorn's Naked City project and the work of Carl Stalling, has constructed a jump cut record that is not dissimilar to much of Naked City's output-- this is one thing I've found somewhat underdocumented reading reviews of the album, but having spent a little time listening to it, this was my first impression.
Patton does, however, find his own voice as he seamlessly blends genres-- notably cartoon music in the Stalling model and endless sound effects. Like Naked City, it can be frustrating at times when you find an idea you like and its development is abandoned in exchange for something else, but the statement as a whole is what's really important. Like all Fantomas records, there's a high theatrical feels on this one as it slides between various styles, always returning to a sort of sludgey metal feel and a cartoon feel. Patton's vocals are largely wordless, though there is some lyric here and there.
One thing that I see a lot of is fans of metal seeking Fantomas material having heard its a "metal supergroup"-- if you don't like experimental music, you probably won't like this one, regardless of who's in the band-- most of these guys have been associated with Zorn's work more recently than with metal bands, and it shows. On the other hand, if you are a metal fan and you're a bit open minded, there may be enough here to latch onto to allow you to develop an appreciation for it, but Fantomas is not something that will come easy-- you sort of have to get used to hearing it before it makes sense.
If you're a fan of Patton's work with Fantomas (even if you disliked "Delerium Cordia") or for that matter with Mr. Bungle, this is a good one to check out. I'd also recommend this to John Zorn/Naked City fans, they'll find quite a bit to like on this one (ditto for "General Patton vs. the X-ecutioners"). Conversely, if you did like this, check out Zorn's Naked City band, I think you'll find it very rewarding.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Far from "Suspended", April 16, 2005
Warning: The below album is an experience, and an intense one. It should not be listened to if your mind isn't open.
Okay, enough of that.
In early 2004, Fantômas produced the dark, mesmerizing "Delirium Cordia," a strange concept album with only one epic song... which happened to be 74 minutes long. It was a risk, and it paid off. So after something like that, what can a band do that doesn't sound like backsliding? Well, do the reverse.
Enter "Suspended Animation," an odd concept album built around the month of April. The band opts for faster, more cartoony songs this time around, but retains the mad-genius-doing-prog-metal-on-acid sound. It's the sort of music that one can't have mixed opinions on -- either you love this stuff, or you loathe it.
Frontman Mike Patton imbues "Suspended Animation with hints of blues, weird synth, jazz, metal, post-rock, strange sound effects and just about every other kind of sound, with some bombastic drums and razor-sharp riffs. The music should be a complete mess, but instead it sounds like Patton has managed to trap some rabid sound waves in a box. It's chaos, but controlled chaos -- the type that fascinates rather than repels.
And soaring over it all is the voice of Patton himself, sounding a bit demented. He's got an almost impossibly flexible voice, and the man puts it to extremely good use here. He's backed by the excellent Buzz Osbourne, guitarist for the Melvins, and nearly-as-good Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.
Since the album is centered on the month of April there are... thirty tracks. Not one. Not ten. Thirty. Patton keeps things moving with cartoonish sounds and quick cuts from one song to the next. It's sillier than the morbid "Delirium Cordia" was, but by no means is it goofy or lightweight. Despite the closing sample, that is.
It may not be dark and sprawling, but "Suspended Animation" is just as good as its predecessor. Mad, whirling and bursting with chaotic energies.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
April is National Humor and Anxiety Month, April 17, 2005
Imagine a prog-metal alchemist with an obsession for classic Warner Brothers cartoons and old video games, pasting together a jump-cut soundtrack to a campy horror movie, and you still wouldn't be able to conceive of this bizarre little album from Fantomas. This disc is essentially a pastiche of sonic experiments, laid out arbitrarily over 30 tracks representing each of the days in April 2005. Brutal speed metal riffs blast their way into a creepily silly soundscape of effects and samples from the aforementioned cartoons and toys, with Mike Patton's unconventional vocal exercises working as inhuman sound effects themselves, with discernable lyrics only popping up occasionally, like in "04/10/05 Sunday." Fantomas throws in a lot of unexpected musical ingredients amidst all this hubbub, including a melancholy mellotron melody in "04/03/05 Sunday," mutated acid jazz in "04/02/05 Saturday" and "04/27/05 Wednesday," chilling trance in "04/20/05 Wednesday," and even a lullaby in "04/21/05 Thursday." My favorite musical moment of the album is the otherworldly kid's chorus over tribal percussion in "04/16/05 Saturday." But while this album is relentlessly fascinating, it's also fractured. Nothing here lasts more than about 20 seconds, and every time an interesting riff or rhythm pops up, it's almost immediately overcome by more samples and sound effects. That makes this album a success in experimentation and construction, but a little problematic in the listenability department. However, I really doubt that anything else on Earth sounds like this, and that's a good thing in itself. [~doomsdayer520~]
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is Fantômas' 
