Tomahawk: Anonymous

On Tomahawk's third album, Mike Patton exercises a rare subtlety. Or at least as much subtlety as he's likely to learn. Tomahawk's new Anonymous is  the baby of Jesus Lizard vet Duane Denison, inspired by his exposure to Native American folk songs as he toured reservations in the Hank III band. Though logic dictates otherwise, this public-domain material (and old public-domain material, at that) actually works, at least as interpreted by Cows' former bassist, Helmet's former drummer, and Jesus Lizard's former guitarist, with the overcompensation found on every Mike Patton project. Get through the Enya-on-steroids opening track ("War Song"), skip the almost-rap-metal rendering of "Red Fox," and let the beauty of "Cradle Song," "Omaha Dance," and the poppy "Antelope Ceremony" take over.