SUSPENDED ANIMATION

The latest output from Fantomas showcases a much faster paced outlook than the preceding Delirium Cordia offered. Actually, when putting the albums side by side, they seem almost polar opposites of each other. While the former is a dark, long, immensely performed and stretched out nightmarish avalanche, Suspended Animation prefers to throw the snow at you in short clumps. It is an upbeat, crazed out, cartoonish piece of work that sprawls 30 minutes shorter than it's predecessor with 29 more tracks, if that tells you anything. It comes at you in bursts of speed and buzzes, along with a variety of sampled/created carnival noises.

Suspended Animation showcases itself as the soundtrack to both a cartoon and the month of April, and the artwork it very good and fun for quite a while.

Now, the music:

This album presents itself very well; but what about the music? It's exactly what I'd stated it was before--bursts of noise and distortion (tastefully done of course), and just saying it's the offspring of Mike Patton should warn everyone that it is nothing near ordinary and that it will probably upset your stomach with prolonged exposure.

Suspended Animation manages to be the most frantic album I've ever heard, which indeed is unique; however, the overall outcome seems more quirky and entertaining than pleasing.

It would be derivative to explain each track, as basically all of them would be something like: a frantic minute or noisy chaos full of interspersed carnival sounds and Mike Patton's crazy vocals. Occasionally there is a softer piece here, and the album shines best on the second half, when the softer pieces are better mixed in with the chaotic ones.

I cannot award this album anything over a 6 on my scale, due to its repetitive structure and rather mediocre first half. 3 stars on this scale. It's mostly flash, with little to no real substance. I much preferred Delirium Cordia.

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