Every time that Mike Patton is involved with a musical
project, I have to check it out. I've
been a fan of his ever since the first time that I heard Faith No More and then
Mr. Bungle. Tomahawk is something that I've been a little confused by the whole time that it has existed. This is the band that has Mike Patton on
vocals, Duane Dennison formerly of the Jesus Lizard on guitar, and John Stanier,
formerly of Helmet and currently of Battles, on drums. With a lineup like that, one would expect Tomahawk to be a fairly hard-hitting and erratic band. While this is sometimes true, Tomahawk takes on a much gentler edge throughout much of this album. This is not a complaint per
se, but an observation worth mentioning for any Patton fans.
Apparently, Duane Dennison spent some time researching Native American culture as a source of inspiration for the material on Anonymous. Most of the songs are transcriptions of actual Native American songs, rearranged. "Red Fox" is one tune that had to be completely rearranged to make it more accessible. The songs finally link the band with the heritage that its name comes from. The disc starts off with the ominous “War Song,” which sets the tone for the whole disc. Other tunes like “Mescal Rite 1,” “Mescal Rite 2,” and “Antelope Ceremony" definitely have a ritualistic feel to them. It’s dark and experimental. It's downright ambient at certain points, and it rocks at others. The instrumentation is a little different with the emphasis not always being on guitar, drums and vocals. The whole album definitely needs to be listened to via headphones to fully experience everything that’s going on in the mix. Mike Patton is on his game here with a few of the tunes sounding like war chants or possibly Native American rituals set to the sounds of Tomahawk.
Tomahawk is a band that will always surprise the listener with every album that they put out, which is undoubtedly an invaluable benefit in today’s cookie-cutter music world. Anonymous is a step forward for the band and definitely something that I would suggest to anyone that's a fan of Mike Patton. It's more that that, though. This is no album for fanboys. Tomahawk has the potential to make a lot more good music and let's hope that happens.
| Reviewer: Dave Warren Added: June 12th 2007 |
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