TOMAHAWK -- ANONYMOUS

It's hard to imagine the Mike Patton that joined Faith No More in the '90s and looked like the day-glo-attired skater little brother of Anthony Keidis has turned into one of the most interesting artists in music today. After a little foray back into the Pop world with an R&B/Funk/AltRock album under the Peeping Tom name, Patton gets back to his eccentricities on the new album from his project with former Jesus Lizard guitar genius Duane Denison and former Helmet drummer John Stanier under the name Tomahawk. Patton has done Avant Jazz, Extreme Metal, Experimental anything, Hip Hop, Opera and film scores (and he's even voicing a video game character in the near future) since Faith No More split, so is it really a shock to hear that Tomahawk's latest is a reinterpretation of Native American songs? It's some as-per-usual weird-ass shit -- hearing Patton basically chant over synths, huge tribal rhythms and a soundscape that mixes New Age flutter with a slanted, hotwired Industrial Metal pulse isn't for everyone. But he's not worried about that, and the art coming out of that kind of creative freedom is truly something to behold if you're a fan of music from the outer edges. There are a few more straightforward songs here (that term being used very relatively), like the creepy "Cradle Song," on which Patton whisper/growls/howls a nightmarish lullaby over ambient textures and Denison plays a minimal, hovering guitar figure hypnotically. But mostly it's upside-down arrangements, out-of-nowhere sound effects, Patton's otherworldly vocal gymnastics, hiccupy time signatures and Stanier's heavy, stop/start beats, as Denison's seems to harness the spirits and catch some dreams in his webby spools on almost every song. (Mike Breen) Grade: A-