SUSPENDED ANIMATION

I'm familiar with most of the previous works of all of the artists of Fantomas, and I have to say that every one is at the absolute peak of their game on this album. The sum of their parts conveys exactly what is intended; Mania (or more accurately, the emotional rollercoaster that is Manic-Depression). As someone who, during his younger years, was diagnosed with such a chemical disorder, I can say that this sounds pretty spot on as to what it feels like to have a string of episodes. It is pure elation and indifference to others that seems to segue into moments of conscience and doubt periodically; especially at the end. "Happy-violent" was once a term I used for that kind of feeling--and when you snap out of it you always wonder "what the hell was I doing to these poor people?"

At any rate, enough explanation of the album's overall feel. Let me describe what the musicians put to the table on this one.

Lombardo, a vetran of a band you probably all know--Slayer--seems to have overall mastered the different uses of his drum kit. If you've heard any of his other stuff, I'm sure you know he can play... and most importantly play FAST and HARD. But he also shows off different sides of his talent as well on this album, which from observation seems to be a good balance of the more subtle precussions he contributed to Delerium Cordia and his over-the-top stuff from Slayer. Also, some fantastic little parts featuring some odd percussion devices are included.

Dunn. Well. I honestly have the hardest time in the world describing bass, so I'll just say "good."

Buzz is very quirky and manipulates the strings in an extremely experimental fashion. It complements Patton's style of vocals very well; both make odd, and unnatural sounding noises that never really take the foreground, but just meld in with everything else to make a pure sound, that really gets the point across. If anyone would be considered a show stealer on the album, it would be Lombardo and his goregrind style drum solos.

The real unifying factor, however, would have to be the sampling and sound manipulation. No one is credited for it, to my knowledge, but whichever of them did it is on top of their stuff. I'd like to think of it as the whole band's effort, as Patton always tends to get credit for everything in the projects he's involved with.

If I could change one thing about this album, it would be taking out the sparse inclusion of English. I think it really cheapens the whole effect of the album expressing emotions without actually saying anything. Of course, the English that's there is appropriate. Clips from Barney, Looney Tunes, late twentieth century toys. It creates a very ironic sound, on the one hand sounding quite innocent, while the music playing around it feels FILTHY.

So to sum it up, it's not for everyone, but those who appreciate exploring complex sounds and the human mind (and don't mind listening to some seriously head pounding metal) should enjoy this. Most folks here are probably open minded enough to get a kick out of this, so unless you have a set notion that prog should be like Yes, King Crimson, etc., (no disrespect intended, I love all of them) you definitely need to listen to this.