DELÌRIVM CÒRDIA

Sick,completely sick!I can't tell more!--Noises from a surgery on someone still alive..... and some Slayer type of metal in between.If you like noise and sick music and you are fan of Slayer (and horror movies) well go for it,just have fun .....or just the most terrifying experience in music you've ever got!For sure "progressive" yes indeed! Even the most difficult FRANK ZAPPA albums are much easier to get into (maybe Mainstream compared to this), but once again....music????I would say rather NO!!!!Really only recommended for fans of very sick music (and of horror movies), humanoids,aliens and so on!!!!

This is scary scary stuff. Most of the time i can barely call it music, just the scary sounds of surgery on the concious. There are bits of music inbetween. i would say this is a progressive piece, mainly just one giant build up. It is very much let down by the last 20 minutes which is a loop of a record scratching which builds up to the band just saying 1,2,3,4 and then the album ends. Not at all worth the wait. This part should have been cut from the album.

This piece is ultimately very difficult to rate. It isn't gripping, it isn't a good piece of music, yet it is good experimentally and good at scaring the listener. Its definetly a worthwile listen, i can even imagine this piece having repeat qualities but i have to give it a pretty much strip down the middle score as that's all their is here. Good effects, good concept. It's not for everyone. I listened to it only because i made myself. I thought it was good yet i still wanted to turn it off at times, it is a very difficult piece to tackle. I recommend you at least give it a try and then after that you can do whatever you want with this record. Ultimately it is a good piece, debateable whether it is even a piece of music, its weird for the sake of weird.

You're going into surgery, but something isnt right. You can still hear the voices of people around you, but you can't speak, or move. You can feel the cold knives cutting you open, and you can feel them reaching into your insides, picking you apart. Horrifying to even think of. Now take this feeling, and put it into song.. Hard to imagine yes? Enter Fantomas - Delirium Cordia.

...... MY GOD. This is the most insane 'music' ive ever heard, if you dare call it music. It really cant be put into words, a mad mix of ambience, death metal, jazz, and everything else Mike Patton can cram in there. This is Patton's creativity going overboard, creating something completely original and impossible to describe. The concept is intense, and the music can get very frightening. Sudden bursts of death metal in between ambient segments, this music will scare the hell out of you. Not for the faint of ear, this is definitely a tough peice to wrap your head around.. I don't know what to think of it, but i'm definitely intrigued. The album ends on an odd note, 20 minutes of vinyl crackling, only to build up to someone saying 1234. Save yourself the trouble and consider the song over when this starts. Epic, frightening and wierder than you can imagine. I would'nt recommend buying this album, but if you have an open mind and enjoy dark music, you must hear this. It's like nothng else ever recorded. 3.5/5 -con safo

Weird, weird, weird, weird, weird.

This album is for the most daring prog fans. It is a fantastic journey all its own, but it is certainly not for the faint of heart. This is an album to listen to and own just to say you have. Listening to this record from start to finish is quite an accomplishment, and it gives the listener a sense of sick pride at the end ("I dont know what the hell that was, but I made it through alive..."). Surgical Sound... cannot truly be enjoyed in bits and pieces, only as a whole work, which makes it incredibly difficult to listen to, but it should be appreciated at least for the amazing artistic effort put in by Mike Patton and friends. It is a truly original work, listing influences would be redundant, with the exception of, say, Ed Wood horror movie soundtracks mixed with Slayer.

Approach this album with caution, but enjoy it once you get there.

Although being warned about it, this was my first true introduction to Fantômas and the world of Mike Patton. This is basically one 74-minute long experimental suite going through a countless of different moods and musical parts. The main concept about this album is the horror of waking up while under surgery, this being reflected in the intense, creepy and downright uncomfortable atmosphere of the music. At the same time, this is extremely unpredictable stuff and very demanding and need patience and concentration while listening to it. Unlike their other albums, this one is more ambient styled rather than the "start-stop-BANG!" madness of their other ones, and that's what makes it so creepy and downright sick at times. The band rarely plays together here and for the most of the time it's Patton noodling with samples, vocals and so on, but the result works extremely well although being VERY unaccessible, but convincingly unique and original.

A very chilling and scary album which is a perfect example of a "love it or hate it" release. Me personally love this stuff though it's doesn't quite top their debut or Suspended Animation. A few moments are weaker than others, and the last 20 minutes with the sound of an LP at the very end of it, are rather unecessary. But overall a very interesting release, but definitely not for the faint of heart!

What the heck was the point of this? It is my understanding that this was the soundtrack to some horror film or surgery documentary or something. It should never have been separated from the movie. Listening to this album was the biggest waste of 74 minutes of my life; and writing this review adds another 15 minutes of waste to my life. The highlight of this album is that it is one song that is 74 minutes long. I was able to download it from eMusic and it only cost me 1 download. Unfortunately, I want that 1 download back so I can download an actual song. There is very little of anything that I would actually call music involved with this song/album. It is just noise and sound effects with some nonmusical instrumental noodling thrown in here and there. I could run a tape recorder of me sleeping and then take all the highlights of my snoring, coughing, farting, and maybe the occasional talking in my sleep (or if I listen to this album again the nightmare screams) and it would be just as musical as this album. Throw in a good sheet rustle and I'll have a masterpiece compared to this.

I don't like doing negative reviews but I think that it is important that anyone who has decent musical tastes and puts a lot of trust into fellow PA members tastes and reviews not be fooled by all the 4 and 5 star ratings this albums has gotten. This is in absolutely no way a masterpiece. Oh, one other possible benefit of this album might be with Halloween coming up this could be the background music that you play at your home in order to spook the trick or treaters.

Mike Patton is the equivalent to metal as Frank Zappa is/was to rock and John Zorn is to jazz. All three take the rulebooks of their respective genres and threw them out of the window.

In Patton's case, he probably burned it, crushed it in a trash compactor and then ate it for dinner.

I love Patton's work in Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, and I've also taken a liking in his side project's like Tomahawk and his "pop" project Peeping Tom, but Fantomas is the most difficult of any of his works to get into (besides his solo stuff where he's just making noise and sounding like a dying 3 year old throwing up a grand piano with a knife in his back).

Despite the fact I'm not a huge fan of Fantomas, this record especially, it's massive to see what a pioneer in avant-garde metal he has been, much like Zorn and Zappa.Only a sick, twisted mind like his would create a 76 minute long track recreating surgery without anesthesia squeezing in thrash metal and punk, jazz, even chant in some sections! It's as if Patton requested to make a movie on this subject, got denied and decided to make that movie into one long song.

A song nobody would probably ever buy in their lives (except diehard Patton fans).

Easily stated, this is not for everyone. This and their self-titled album are more sonically experimental that most of Patton's work, period. If anything, "The Director's Cut" and "Suspended Animation" are more intriguing releases, where the former is Patton's take on popular movie tunes, while the latter is similar to their first disc, except through a blended Japanese cartoon show.

All in all, if you don't like the sounds of metal objects moving flesh around, steer clear of this disc. You have been warned.

Mike Patton's sure an interesting person. He's surely one of the best vocalists of our generation (along with being an awesome composer/keyboardist), but his works are definitely not accessible. Take any of Mr. Bungle's records (perhaps excluding California, one that's actually a bit sane), for instance. The first album was pure insanity, blending funk, prog, jazz, and bunch of other wild elements into one giant mixing pot. Disco Volante was even crazier, bordering to downright creepy. After the Bungle years, he created a project called Fantomas, named after a French crime novel.

This particular work, the mysteriously named "Delirium Cordia," stands out from the others in Fantomas's collection because of it's sheer length, clocking in at 75 minutes. Basically, the record sounds like the equivalent of a horror movie soundtrack (something Patton might have intended to make, considering his mind), but with one exception: YOU are the victim. That's right. Especially if you listen with headphones, everything will feel like it's happening to you. This includes, but is not limited to: Surgery, voices, light piano sounds, indescribable noises, crashing waves, etc.

The members surprisingly have little to do in this album. Mike Patton is really the star of the show here, while the other members just generally do other supporting noises/riffs. Dave Lombardo actually contributes to some cymbal noise and drum rolls for ambiance, but little else here. Buzz "King Buzzo" Osbourne does really low, distorted guitar fills through moments of tension. To be honest, Trevor Dunn doesn't do much of anything here, aside from riffs with the other band members. Again, Mike Patton rules most of the music here.

As with most ambient listens, this record will turn off a lot of listeners. There are especially some moments that will scare the living hell out of you. When lying in bed in the dark, this becomes even scarier, mainly when you just anticipate something to happen in the utter silence of a part of the piece. However, there are some instances of relief from the sorrowful creepiness on occasion. For instance, there is a portion of the song where a Hawaiian easy-listening tune is being played. Don't hold your breath, though, as that will disappear soon enough.

Also, there are plenty of moments that sound like you are a victim, as has been said before. As an example, there is a portion where surgeons are operating on a body, and it sounds like the tools are scraping at you madly. Unless you are patient and can handle that creepiness, you won't last for even a minute of the incessant craziness going on. Likewise, some noises will leave your imagination to fill in the rest, as they're pretty indescribable.

Overall, this album is not for the light hearted in ANY way. If you are a Mike Patton fan, looking for risky and daring music, or a fan of ambient works, I'd suggest checking it out as it's quite good. Others, I'm afraid, might be turned off by this album.

(Originally published on Sputnikmusic)

Inspired by the very rare but terrifyingly real phenomenon of people remaining immobile but conscious through surgery due to an odd reaction to anaesthesia, this album-length track from Fantomas is a strange ambient metal opera taking the listener through the twists and turns of this predicament. It isn't just surgery sound effects, though - a diverse range of musical sounds pass by on the journey, yet at the same time I find that most of them aren't particularly memorable. As a project Fantomas has always been one to live or die by its concept, and here the idea is fun in theory but not so hot in execution.