Tomahawk’s third release “Anonymous”, against all imaginable expectations is a bold attempt in recreating Native American tunes that have been lost for aeons, each of its thirteen themes are reworked versions of obscure and ancestral tribal songs discovered by guitarist Duane Denison in 20th century books on Indian culture.Despite the Tomahawk treatment given to these songs, they don’t bear the stamp of the previous works “Tomahawk” and “Mit Gas”, instead of noisy-abrasive rock we get a Mr. Bungled experimentalism freed from typical song structures and Fantomas-gorical creepy ambiences. Opener “War Song”, for example sounds like it could have fit on “Delirium Cordia”, for its cinematic spooky atmosphere and the following song "Mescal Rite I" along with the fanfare-alike “Song of Victory” sound remarkably close to “California”-era material.
Personal favourite “Antelope Ceremony" and "Omaha Dance” are also worth of mention as they also stray way from the known Tomahawk mould and branch out into other territories with its pop-subtleties twitching an eye on Peeping Tom and Faith No More respectively. Bottom line, “Anonymous” is a great record, product of the collective geniuses of Duane Denison, John Stanier and demigod Mike Patton. (7/10)
Band info: www.myspace.com/tomahawkofficial
Label info: www.ipecac.com
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