By Jim Shea

On a scale of one to 10, Fantomas would just simply break the scale all together for originality. Just who in their right mind would release an album so outrageous, so criminally insane, and so violently chaotic – that you would need to see if you’re still in reality?

Fantomas is the “supergroup” consisting of ex-Faith No More/Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton, Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osbourne, and bassist Trevor Dunn, but their past works will not come into play for this album, Suspended Animation. It would be a huge understatement to list Fantomas as “experimental” because no one will even dare to copy this kind of music.

In Suspended Animation, Patton doesn’t really sing, but unleashes a barrage of screeches, screams, yelps and other noises. Not only that, but Patton’s choice of weapon is a turntable, a soundboard and a V-Tech Speak N’ Spell.

The rest of the band isn’t as “far minded” as Patton, but they do manage to bring in some heavy metal for Suspended Animation. To best describe the music that’s going on in Suspended Animation, it would be a mix of metal, Patton’s insanity, and random clips from old “Merry Melodies” cartoons and ’50s movies.

The album is relatively easy to follow as the tracks are based off of a calendar that’s on April 2005. For example, the first is entitled “4-01-05” and the next track is “4-02-05”. However, the tracks in this album don’t follow a straightforward flow, but “randomness” at its best.

If you’re brand new to Fantomas, don’t be surprised that this is a first. The band actually released a similar album like Suspended Animation that was their self-titled debut. On the other hand, Fantomas has a “sane” album out there called Director’s Cut which is a cover album of the band’s interpretation of movie themes like The Godfather, The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby. If you feel threatened about Suspended Animation, then Director’s Cut will be a safe choice if you want to get into Fantomas.

Although it’s unknown whether members of Fantomas take drugs personally, it wouldn’t be hard to see if they did after listening to Suspended Animation. In terms of quality, Suspended Animation offers a roller coaster ride for the ages, but don’t immediately jump into the album unless you already know what you’re getting yourself into.

The Chronicle gives “Suspended Animation”, by Fantomas three 1/2 out of five stars.