Biography
Fantômas took its name from the anti-hero featured in a series of classic French crime novels. Mike Patton assembled the band in the aftermath of Faith No More’s dissolution. Following an initial rough demo completed in early 1998, Patton brought in Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne, Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo to complete the lineup. The quartet made its live debut in San Francisco during mid-June of that year. Its first recorded appearance arrived later in 1998 as a cacophonous cover of T. Rex’s “Chariot Choogle,” contributed to the Tzadik label’s compilation Great Jewish Music: Marc Bolan. The group spent the remainder of the summer on tour. Spring 1999 brought the self-titled debut album, issued as the inaugural release on Patton’s newly established Ipecac label, after which the band resumed extensive touring. Once the tour concluded, the members returned to their other projects and Fantômas entered a temporary hiatus. By early 2001 the four musicians had reconvened to record a second album. Released as The Director’s Cut, the record consisted of reworked movie themes drawn from The Godfather, Cape Fear, and Rosemary’s Baby, among others; an intended version of “What a Feeling” from Flashdance was ultimately omitted because of last-minute legal complications. The remainder of 2001 was devoted to touring in support of the album, while Patton indicated that the group might soon enter the studio again to begin work on an album of original material. Those plans were deferred when Fantômas and the Melvins joined forces as the seven-piece ensemble billed as the Fantômas Melvins Big Band, which issued the live recording Millennium Monsterwork in April 2002. Early 2004 saw the release of the haunting epic Delirium Cordia. The following year the band returned with Suspended Animation, a concept album centered on the month of April that revisited its metal-horror aesthetic. Although Patton periodically reassembled the group for select live dates, no further recordings appeared until 2014, when Ipecac issued the box set Wunderkammer. The collection contained fresh vinyl pressings of the band’s first five releases together with a bonus cassette of Patton’s original demo recordings. Also in 2014, Fantômas played its first concert in six years at the RockOut Festival in Santiago, Chile.