Before I start this review, I just want to remind you that this is my opinion, and just like you, I am entitled to my own. In other words, there is no justification for rating a review based solely on whether you agree or disagree. That said, here is my review.
When I first heard of this band, consisting of Mike Patton (Singer of 4 full length Faith No More albums, and singer of Mr. Bungle), Dave Lombardo (ex-drummer of Slayer), Trevor Dunn (bassist of Mr. Bungle), and Buzz Osborne (guitarist of The Melvins), I was very excited. With the exception of The Melvins, I have been a great fan of all these people for quite some time.
Mike Patton was like a vocal god to me, Trevor Dunn’s part in Mr. Bungle was more then noteworthy, and Dave Lombardo’s days with Slayer were outstanding. I never really got into The Melvins, but the guitars were pretty cool, so over all, this was a great cast of musicians.
Finally it came time to buy this album, and after a few minutes of listening, my excitement plummeted. I would soon regret ever spending money on this CD.
There are 30 “songs” on this album, ranging in time from a few seconds, to several minutes. There are no lyrics on any song, just various vocal stylings ranging from growling, to screaming, to utter gibberish.
The music itself is just awful. When listening to it, I think of a bunch of children, whom have never played an instrument before in their lives, at their fist day of band practice. There is no organization. This was the worst part to me. Each of the musicians are very talented, but you would not know that from this album. No one does anything to set them aside from the others. Instead, they all just combine to make one loud and obnoxious noise (kind of like when you take all the colors of paint and mix them together to make that ugly blackish-greenish-brownish color, that makes baby poop look lovely).
Now, I know that there are some people who like this album out there, I have read some of their reviews and comments. However, I have never actually met someone in real life that would at least admit to liking it, so I cannot say for whom I would recommend this album to. I have no idea what kind of person that would be.
The only people I have known to like this album is through Epinions.com. A member once tried to accuse me of being closed-minded just because I did not like Fantomas. What he did not realize, I guess, is that by making that statement he showed just how closed-minded he was. After all, I gave the album a chance. In fact, I really wanted to like it. But after listening to it a few times, I just could not find any enjoyment from it. If I had just chosen not to listen to it because it had that guy from The Melvins, then that would have been closed-minded.
So, maybe that is the kind of person that would like this album. But, for the majority of us, I recommend you stay away from Fantomas.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.