SUSPENDED ANIMATION

When my friend first showed me Fantomas, I was very confused, but in a good way. The inherent weirdness that seems to be in all Patton-related projects is on overdrive for this band (though I vastly prefer Mr. Bungle's work). This album's styles are all over the place, from Patton's frantic wordless vocal spewings to King Buzzo's crushing riffs and Dave Lombardo's surprisingly diverse drumming (I always thought he was just another double bass metal drummer) combine to make by far one of the weirdest albums I've ever heard. The knee-jerk style can be likened to that of Naked City's, a band of John Zorn's whom he's said was made for people with short attention spans.

Going over the tracks individually is pointless, because, as stated before, they're so short that there's no way you're going to remember all of them. However, the album works best as one piece. As I also mentioned before, Fantomas never stays in a particular style for too long, and this album is no exception. The theme is cartoons, and the countless samples reflect this theme, as do a lot of Patton's weird semi-scat vocals.

This album is not flawless, however. The lacking of developing on several themes sometimes hurts the material, as in if you're really liking what you're listening to, chances are several seconds later it'll be a totally different part. Another problem Suspended Animation suffers from is the over usage of sound effects, which sometimes blocks out the music itself. Also, sadly Trevor Dunn's bass playing, which I usually admire, is barely audible on this album.

Problems aside, this album is an overall enjoyable experience, if perhaps too overburdened by random noises and changing themes just when it's starting to really get going.

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