Rating: NNNN
Only in the metal press could a band consisting of the squawky crooner from Mr. Bungle, the guitarist from the Jesus Lizard, the drummer from Helmet and the former bassist of the Melvins be considered a “supergroup.”
On their fourth LP, and first since 2007’s less than great Anonymous, super-duper-group Tomahawk earn their hyperbolic moniker. Mr. Bungle/Faith No More/Fantômas vet Mike Patton brings sometime Melvin Trevor Dunn into the fold, further intensifying Tomahawk’s pseudo-avant weird-metal sound.
Led by Patton’s smarmy vocals and the band’s intricately heavy instrumentation, Oddfellows cuts a swath between infectious bangers (Stone Letter, South Paw) and quirky atmospherics (I.O.U., I Can Almost See Them, which opens with banshee howls calling out from Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song).
Despite the gamut-running genre-bending, a guiding unity makes it seem like Patton’s doing more than just getting a bunch of buddies to indulge his whims. It’s a return to form for one of the more interesting of his 9,000 side projects, and maybe the best left-field “supergroup” record since Oysterhead’s Grand Pecking Order.
Top track: Stone Letter
