For the most part, 'Anonymous' is Native American music - chanting, weird melodies- played with guitar, flecked with strange noises and samples with typically high quality production. And it works extremely well. Patton apes the chants of aboriginal Americans while adding his shouts and screams and other products of vocal versatility (plus a mean usage of excellent samples) while Denison and Stainer build fantastic instrumentation beneath. Only rarely do their interpretations falter and, when they do, never do they drag my estimation of the album down with them.

Personally, I think 'Mescal Rites I' is the album’s apex. It sees an awesome melody followed by guitar and vocals, accompanied by another string-sounding instrument I couldn’t even guess the name of. It’s really these melodies which are the album’s greatest appeal. Very fast, repetitive and very much not what I hear a lot of; it makes for a very different sound which exposes a new aural world I find immediately appealing. Plus, we get them in abundance: they are liberally scattered over all the tracks, making the album as good as it is. However, Tomahawk cannot take credit for writing most of these melodies (and they don’t try to: the album’s name being a reference to the fact that most of the composers’ names have been lost to the world) having said that, credit is deserved for exposing them, and to Duane specifically for unearthing them as a product of his uncanny hunch. It, of course, shouldn’t be forgotten that they have fantastically embellished each piece on the album with subtleties of production and modernity, creating fantastically atmospheric pieces which make the album both captivating and straight-up nice to listen to.

'Red Fox' is another standout track. This time, however, it blends the traditional with the expected. The vocals slip into English (is he saying “skin walker”?) and the structure and tune becomes slightly more like that with which we are familiar. However, the enjoyment isn’t compromised. Instead, Tomahawk demonstrate their ability to flesh out and expand upon the music this album is largely dedicated to.

Some of the attempts at modernising the material they are working with do, however, come off a little crudely. The most striking example would be the rap breakdown of 'Mescal Rites II', an extremely bizarre inclusion which, being the first track I listened to, caused me to be initially put off. Other points, like the verse of 'Totem', are reminiscent of Faith No More (as is the rap) in a way which doesn’t particularly complement the traditional music, which is the album’s staple. This earlier identity of Patton’s creeping in is certainly a drawback of the album, and perhaps one of the only, but it never really intrudes enough to be detrimental; the album, as a work in itself, is preserved despite.

Another - minor - oddity is the closing track. Included because it was discovered while searching for Native American music, 'Long, Long Weary Day' is a solo guitar cowboy ditty sorta thing which is, although far from bad, extremely out of place. Though it could cynically be considered filler, I have my doubts. Would a one minute and twenty-three second long track really be awkwardly attached to the end just for the extra seconds? Perhaps an attempt to contextaulise the obscure compositions being delivered, perhaps a comparison. It doesn’t seem substantial enough for either of these tasks, though. Whatever its intent, the track remains separate from the album, 'Anonymous', in my mind.

So 'Anonymous' - from concept to delivery - is pretty rad. Hopefully just the beginning of a style which will be further pursued, it develops some seriously enjoyable ideas and establishes an extremely individual essence of its own. If more of this comes, my estimation of Tomahawk will undoubtedly grow. If not, I’ll keep listening to this album.

Alistair Clark