Fantômas: Калифорниялық супертоп

American band from California

Fantômas is an American heavy metal supergroup formed in 1998 in California. It features vocalist Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle), drummer Dave Lombardo (ex Slayer), guitarist Buzz Osborne (Melvins) and bassist Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk). The band is named after Fantômas, a supervillain featured in a series of crime novels popular in France before World War I and in film, most notably in the '60s French movie series.

Fantômas began just before the collapse of Faith No More, as a series of spasmic, avant garde metal/grindcore songs composed by vocalist and bandleader Mike Patton. Patton then sent the demos to guitarist Buzz Osborne (of Melvins), bass guitarist Trevor Dunn (of Mr. Bungle) and drummer Igor Cavalera (of Sepultura), with the intention of forming a supergroup. Cavalera declined the offer, but recommended who he thought would be perfect for the project: Dave Lombardo of Slayer, who accepted. The band have released all of their albums through Patton's independent label Ipecac, however there was initially interest from several prominent record labels, primarily due to Patton's commercial success with Faith No More. He recalled "There was a whole lot of interest, at first. People from Geffen and stuff like this came out to the shows. But after the show, they disappeared into the woodwork. There were [also] indies that were interested, but none that I was interested in." In mid 2005, the band toured Europe with Terry Bozzio on drums, as Lombardo was on tour with Slayer. Lombardo returned to the band for the final dates of the tour, which concluded on September 15, 2005. On May 13, 2006, Patton revealed to Billboard. com that a fifth Fantômas album was being planned. Of the album, Patton says, "The next record is going to be an all electronic affair. It's going to take some creative planning on how to record it and execute it, but there will be no acoustic instruments on it whatsoever. We're pretty much about to go into hibernation mode. I need to, once I have a little time, go back to the drawing board and start writing the next one." In November 2008, Rock A Rolla, a UK based alternative music magazine, exclusively revealed on their website that the new album was currently being worked on and a tentative June 2009 release was possible, however, in the May 2009 issue of Rock A Rolla, in an interview with Greg Werckman, Werckman stated that Mike "hasn't even begun" recording the next Fantômas record. On July 21, 2011, Rock A Rolla revealed that Fantômas would be releasing their December 31, 2008, performance at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall as a DVD and a standalone audio download, titled The Director's Cut Live: A New Year's Revolution. On September 16, 2014, Ipecac Recordings announced that on Record Store Day they would be releasing a boxset titled "Wunderkammer," which would contain all of the Fantômas albums on vinyl as well as a cassette featuring Mike Patton's original demos for the band. In December 2014, Fantômas played their first shows in six years as part of the Rockout Festival in Santiago, Chile, however no plans have been announced to date regarding a new studio recording. On June 24, 2017, Fantômas reunited to open for Tool's concert in San Bernardino, California. Due to his touring commitments with Suicidal Tendencies, Dave Lombardo could not perform at the show. Melvins' Dale Crover returned to take Lombardo's place for the performance.

Progressive rock band Tool cited Fantômas as a major influence on their 2006 record 10,000 Days. In 2006, Mastodon cited several experimental bands, among them Fantômas, as an inspiration to expand their sound into new directions. Dan Briggs, bassist for Between the Buried and Me, called it "a big part of [his] musical background" and considers the Wunderkammer box set one of his most valuable records. Nu metal band Slipknot was heavily influenced by Fantômas in its beginning. The whole band, who was already a fan of Mike Patton, attended one of their first shows in 1998 before Fantômas released any music and were astounded by their technical prowess, calling them the tightest band they had seen. Its drummer Joey Jordison said that the work of Dave Lombardo on Fantômas should be known by every drummer. Mushroomhead frontman Jason Popson called it his favorite band in 2000. Other bands influenced by Fantômas are CKY, The Locust and Car Bomb. Known fans of it included actor Danny DeVito, writer Alan Moore and dance music artist Moby.