THE DIRECTOR’S CUT by Fantomas

[Syn Gates]

:syngates:Happy Halloween family! This months #AOTM is The Director’s Cut by the great Fantomas, truly a great listen in the spirit of the season. This project is fronted by Mike Patton of Mr. Bungle and backed by an all star lineup comprising Dave Lombardo of Slayer on drums, Buzz Osbourne of The Melvins on guitar, and one of my top two fav songwriters of all time in Trevor Dunn of Mr. Bungle on bass(the other being P Mac).

This album is so fucking cool because Dirty Mike and the boys reinvent some of my fav soundtracks of all time. Classics like The Omen, Rosemarys Baby, The Godfather, and more. In fact, the entire album is a cover album that packs a serious punch. Not recommended for the faint of heart

I’ll keep it short and get at ya in the comments but PLEASE, go listen to the originals after you finish the record. This one is a clinic on reinvention, arrangement, and production. Enjoy.

All my love,

SYN
:syngates:

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Spotify
YouTube

 

[Gabby Heafy]

Wow a fascinating choice Syn! I don't know it, but I'll listen to it soon and drop my thoughts! missing you!!! lol!
Happy Halloween!!! love you!

 

[William B.]

Happy Halloween

 

[ari.mac]

Nice rec!
Happy Halloween, Syn!

 

[Anna.VG]

Spooky thanks for this, going to give it a listen! Happy Halloween

 

[Miika Raatikainen]

Aaaah yes Mr.Bungle, really cool rec! imma start listen to it right away. Happy Halloween Syn
(And all the Synner’s)

 

[Batbia]

Gonna give it a listen this week, thanks for the rec and Happy Halloween to all my fellow synners

 

[Aquamandy]

Sounds like an interesting musical adventure
I'll listen to it later, Happy Halloween Synner Fam!

 

[Gabby Heafy]

I have some free time this Sunday so take the opportunity to listen to it. I Don’t know about this album but I find the details you tell us fascinating. What I've heard of Mr. Bungle seems to me super innovative and crazy their music, so surely these songs won't be a waste at all!

The songs I liked the most:

The Godfather: I really liked the intro it's super relaxing melody and then that explosion of sounds and voices. its amazing they can mix creepy, dark elegance and metal/screams into the same song! Fuckin loved it! And there's a weird sound that I can't figure out what instrument or what they do it with but it sounds pretty great!

Der Golem: Sounds very scary at the beginning lol! His voice is incredibly brutal, Damn I love those screams. Tottaly It's one of my favorites!

One Step Beyond: wow it really gives you chills this song! Lol... The drums sound so clean and unbelievably perfect. His voice breaks all the limits! Very original, I liked it a lot.

Cape Fear: Awesome Riff! It's an epic and rare song! Totally fascinated!

Rosemary's Baby: omg the beginning with those voices of that little girls.... holy shit how scary haha! The typical song to sing to your daughter before bedtime... lol! A great production! i enjoyed it a lot!!

Spider Baby: I loved the voice, it reminds me of MJ's Thriller video. The mix of vocals with the instruments creates a perfect melody for the ears!

The Omen: I was already scared at the beginning, they are invoking Satan! Lol!. It’s a very powerful Song, i would love to Hear this band live, they sounds fuckin awesome.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer: this song is purely epic and so extreme. I love his voice so much! It’s another of my fav.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with me: One of the strongest covers on the álbum, that part in the middle after Mike says "memories" is totally awesome.

An unforgettable experience this album! It blew my mind, almost the same feeling when you recommended us Mr Bungle's album, I love the originality and the way their creates and reinvents with their voices, instruments, sounds and everything! I really enjoyed it and I liked it a lot more!

Thank you so much @Syn Gates for this fabulous recommendation and I will heed your request, I will look for the originals without a doubt!!!
Stay Safe! Love ya!

 

[idssdi]

Cool, cool cool cool cool cool

I always adored the godfather soundtrack so pretty curious to hear what they did with it!

 

[ari.mac]

Wow! This whole album was a spooky wild ride for sure. Being a project involving Mike Patton I already knew what I was getting into

I think musically there is nothing else to say other than GENIUSES for these guys. Really great music and songwriting from start to end!
I loved all the tracks: heavy and creepy, just the right choice for this time of the year.
But the tracks I appreciated the most and really gave me chills are the ones I already knew the originals of:

So "The Godfather" of course, I love that they kept the iconic intro basically the same as the original and then went off the rails with screams and heavy instrumentals! Loved that!

"Investigation of a citizen above suspicion", let me just freak out for a minute because this was SO good!!!! I am italian, and this movie is a must!! As well as its soundratck from the great Ennio Morricone. Fantomas did an amazing job with this and I was really speechless to say the least! I hope Morricone got to listen to this and loved it!

"Der Golem" , ooof love it!! That's some heavy stuff right there and Patton's vocals are * chef kiss *
(I remember seeing the movie in german class in high school. I think we were studying the novel at that time. My teacher was cool )

"Cape Fear", literally had goosebumps. Really hunting and creepy. Instrumental and vocals are perfect for this, in my opinion!

"One Step Beyond", again, everything is on point and it really does justice to the original!

Thanks for this rec @Syn Gates I loved their uniqueness and ability to reimagine and honor those classic soundtracks in their style.
I will def go back to listen to the other originals of these covers so that I can better appreciate the other tracks as well!
Hope you and all the synners had a great Halloween!

 

[Brian Haner Sr.]

I will admit I have never heard of this album. I will have explore and get back to you..

 

[Jamie London]

Such a glorious album! I found this one back in 07/08 while on a Bungle binge thanks to you and the late, great Jimmy Sullivan. This was actually easier for me to digest at the time then some of Bungles stuff (mainly Disco lol), and that’s probably because I was already familiar with a few of the original versions of some of the tracks presented here. I’ve always found the Rosemary’s Baby theme to be beautifully haunting, so hearing the Fantomas version of that track, which was the first that I listened to from this album, absolutely blew my mind and I dove in to the full album head first.

My top 3 here would have to be Rosemary’s Baby, Cape Fear, and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. I’m also a huge fan of The Omen (Ave Satan), and Vendetta. Vendetta definitely reminds me of something DV era Bungle would have done. I don’t think there’s a bad track here to be honest. Everyone is absolutely ON FIRE performance wise on this record. Truly mind blowing! It’s just such a wild, one of a kind listen. I feel like certain parts of the listening experience should be jarring, but they never were for me. Everything flows and changes so well, and when you do get a really cool change up, like on Henry, it’s just an awesome adrenaline rush. This beast of an album also got me to check out some of the films I hadn’t seen at the time which was a cool bonus (for the most part ).

I think back in the day I favored a lot of the Fantomas versions to the originals, but now in my ripe old age, I have a healthy mix of favorites between the ogs and the Fantomas versions. And sometimes it just depends on mood. Perhaps it’s a bit strange to favor a certain version of Rosemary’s Baby over another as listening material depending on mood, but ya know, YOLO.

Killer album and I’m so stoked to keep reading everyone‘s thoughts on it!
The AOTM playlist has been updated for y’all as well:

 

[Berk]

I went to home after a halloween party and I was like "dude, syn recommended a new album and I gotta listen this as soon as possible" and I started to listen it with a massive speaker (lol). The opening track (The Godfather) started smoothly and I was just chilling you know. Then that blow up (I can say jump scare) happened and I scared as fuck man the volume of the speaker was full...
So, you got me at the right time man !
Thanks for this amazing album recommendation and thanks for making me live the spirit at right time !
Happy Halloween to Syn and to all.

 

[Syn Gates]

I have some free time this Sunday so take the opportunity to listen to it. I Don’t know about this album but I find the details you tell us fascinating. What I've heard of Mr. Bungle seems to me super innovative and crazy their music, so surely these songs won't be a waste at all!

The songs I liked the most:

The Godfather: I really liked the intro it's super relaxing melody and then that explosion of sounds and voices. its amazing they can mix creepy, dark elegance and metal/screams into the same song! Fuckin loved it! And there's a weird sound that I can't figure out what instrument or what they do it with but it sounds pretty great!

Der Golem: Sounds very scary at the beginning lol! His voice is incredibly brutal, Damn I love those screams. Tottaly It's one of my favorites!

One Step Beyond: wow it really gives you chills this song! Lol... The drums sound so clean and unbelievably perfect. His voice breaks all the limits! Very original, I liked it a lot.

Cape Fear: Awesome Riff! It's an epic and rare song! Totally fascinated!

Rosemary's Baby: omg the beginning with those voices of that little girls.... holy shit how scary haha! The typical song to sing to your daughter before bedtime... lol! A great production! i enjoyed it a lot!!

Spider Baby: I loved the voice, it reminds me of MJ's Thriller video. The mix of vocals with the instruments creates a perfect melody for the ears!

The Omen: I was already scared at the beginning, they are invoking Satan! Lol!. It’s a very powerful Song, i would love to Hear this band live, they sounds fuckin awesome.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer: this song is purely epic and so extreme. I love his voice so much! It’s another of my fav.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with me: One of the strongest covers on the álbum, that part in the middle after Mike says "memories" is totally awesome.

An unforgettable experience this album! It blew my mind, almost the same feeling when you recommended us Mr Bungle's album, I love the originality and the way their creates and reinvents with their voices, instruments, sounds and everything! I really enjoyed it and I liked it a lot more!

Thank you so much @Syn Gates for this fabulous recommendation and I will heed your request, I will look for the originals without a doubt!!!
Stay Safe! Love ya!

Glad u dug it, enjoyed listening to your perspective!

 

[Syn Gates]

Such a glorious album! I found this one back in 07/08 while on a Bungle binge thanks to you and the late, great Jimmy Sullivan. This was actually easier for me to digest at the time then some of Bungles stuff (mainly Disco lol), and that’s probably because I was already familiar with a few of the original versions of some of the tracks presented here. I’ve always found the Rosemary’s Baby theme to be beautifully haunting, so hearing the Fantomas version of that track, which was the first that I listened to from this album, absolutely blew my mind and I dove in to the full album head first.

My top 3 here would have to be Rosemary’s Baby, Cape Fear, and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. I’m also a huge fan of The Omen (Ave Satan), and Vendetta. Vendetta definitely reminds me of something DV era Bungle would have done. I don’t think there’s a bad track here to be honest. Everyone is absolutely ON FIRE performance wise on this record. Truly mind blowing! It’s just such a wild, one of a kind listen. I feel like certain parts of the listening experience should be jarring, but they never were for me. Everything flows and changes so well, and when you do get a really cool change up, like on Henry, it’s just an awesome adrenaline rush. This beast of an album also got me to check out some of the films I hadn’t seen at the time which was a cool bonus (for the most part ).

I think back in the day I favored a lot of the Fantomas versions to the originals, but now in my ripe old age, I have a healthy mix of favorites between the ogs and the Fantomas versions. And sometimes it just depends on mood. Perhaps it’s a bit strange to favor a certain version of Rosemary’s Baby over another as listening material depending on mood, but ya know, YOLO.

Killer album and I’m so stoked to keep reading everyone‘s thoughts on it!
The AOTM playlist has been updated for y’all as well:

Fuck ya, I felt the same. Hard to fuck w the originals these days but I was so thrilled to hear an approach by two of my fav artists of all time. I def preferred these versions until I really dug into orchestration and classical music about 9 years ago for HTTK.

Appreciate all your help w playlists and beyond my brother

 

[Gabby Heafy]

Glad u dug it, enjoyed listening to your perspective!

You are welcome Syn! Thanks for taking the time to read my review! you are the best! I would love to give us more details about this amazing album!

 

[Chris Johnston]

Looking forward to checking this out soon! Thanks as always for the recommendations Syn

 

[Syn Gates]

Wow! This whole album was a spooky wild ride for sure. Being a project involving Mike Patton I already knew what I was getting into

I think musically there is nothing else to say other than GENIUSES for these guys. Really great music and songwriting from start to end!
I loved all the tracks: heavy and creepy, just the right choice for this time of the year.
But the tracks I appreciated the most and really gave me chills are the ones I already knew the originals of:

So "The Godfather" of course, I love that they kept the iconic intro basically the same as the original and then went off the rails with screams and heavy instrumentals! Loved that!

"Investigation of a citizen above suspicion", let me just freak out for a minute because this was SO good!!!! I am italian, and this movie is a must!! As well as its soundratck from the great Ennio Morricone. Fantomas did an amazing job with this and I was really speechless to say the least! I hope Morricone got to listen to this and loved it!

"Der Golem" , ooof love it!! That's some heavy stuff right there and Patton's vocals are * chef kiss *
(I remember seeing the movie in german class in high school. I think we were studying the novel at that time. My teacher was cool )

"Cape Fear", literally had goosebumps. Really hunting and creepy. Instrumental and vocals are perfect for this, in my opinion!

"One Step Beyond", again, everything is on point and it really does justice to the original!

Thanks for this rec @Syn Gates I loved their uniqueness and ability to reimagine and honor those classic soundtracks in their style.
I will def go back to listen to the other originals of these covers so that I can better appreciate the other tracks as well!
Hope you and all the synners had a great Halloween!

Ya Patton has an affinity for Italian culture and is pretty well versed in the language(dudes a polyglot), shows/cinema(old and new), and music(classic, contemporary, film scores). Like myself, he’s a psycho Ennio Morricone fan. None greater for Spaghetti Westerns(all filmed in Italy hence the not so woke nickname) and underrated Horror films, Hateful 8 being one of my absolute favorite films AND soundtracks.

Thx for the deep dive fren

 

[Syn Gates]

You are welcome Syn! Thanks for taking the time to read my review! you are the best! I would love to give us more details about this amazing album!

Looking forward to expounding upon Papa Gates’s experience and notes. He’s got an ear that can rival anyone’s, no joke. Also love(and blown away) that he hasn’t heard this record. He may hate it and it most certainly will literally scare the shit out of his chickens but he’s a kind man. A thoughtful man. A BRAVE man.



He will most certainly give us great analysis