Fantômas is an avant-garde metal band from California, USA formed in 1998 when Mike Patton, previously famous for the multi-million selling Faith No More and art-rock heroes Mr. Bungle, composed a handful of spasmodic and experimental metal songs. Patton then sent the original compositions to musicians he thought would be right for the job, guitarist Buzz Osborne (of sludge outfit Melvins), his childhood friend and ex-bandmate bassist Trevor Dunn (of Mr. Bungle) and drummer Igor Cavalera (from thrash metal giants Sepultura), but Cavalera rejected his offer. Instead, Dave Lombardo (from Slayer) joined on drums, thus his own dream group, Fantômas, was born. Patton named the group after an anti-hero featured in a series of crime novels popular in France before World War I.