What did you expect in an opera, a happy ending?

Fantomas – Suspended Animation

So after a year of delays, the new Fantomas album has finally been released. (And I didn't find out until it had been out for a week. Hey, wake up Ipecac mailing list, you're supposed to tell me about these things!) Fantomas' last release was 'Delirium Cordia', a single hour long track of dark and moody electronica, with a little bit of metal. According to the band, these two albums were supposed to focus on the two separate styles of Fantomas. 'Delirium Cordia' is the dark, ambient, serious side, and 'Suspended Animation' is the upbeat, silly side. (In fact, I think part of the philosophy behind Fantomas is that all heavy metal has this duality. Most bands just don't like to admit to the latter one...)

The packaging reflects the music well. The CD comes tucked into the back of an April 2005 calendar. (Each track is named after a day in the month, e.g. 04/18/05 Monday). Every page is decorated by a weird anime cartoon, with an upbeat style but morbid subject matter. The liner notes and track listing are done in a silly, bright pink 'Hello Kitty' style, with Japanese writing everywhere. It's about as far as you can possibly get from a typical metal album cover. Certainly a direct contrast to 'Delirium Cordia''s dark, minimalist style.

The music itself is very similar to their first (self-titled) album, thirty short tracks of high speed, frantic metal, with occasional interludes. It even sounds like they borrowed some riffs from the first album. There are two main differences though. Firstly it's a lot easier to listen to than the earlier one, without being any more accessible or mainstream. It seems as if over the last few years they've learned to make their music defy convention and be catchy at the same time. The coolest riffs might only last ten seconds, but they fit in with one another so well that it doesn't bother you too much (and gives you an incentive to listen to the album again right away). The other difference is the theme. The first album was based on a comic book. It was very abstract and without being familiar with the book, it didn't do much for me. 'Suspended Animation' has a much simpler concept. It's filled with samples from cartoons (Bugs Bunny quotes, cheesy springing noises and so on) and samples of children playing (in the liner notes they thank all their friends who've had babies, are Fantomas getting clucky?!).

It looks like this one's going to stay in the playlist for a while. 'Delirium Cordia' might still be my favorite of their albums, but it's so long and morose that you really have to be in the right mood for it. This album seems almost like an attempt to do their first album (good, but weak compared to their later stuff) over again, and they've done a great job. It's fast, heavy and fun. A perfect party album, or at least it would be if everyone who came to my parties had any taste.