Tomahawk is the debut studio album by American experimental rock band Tomahawk. Recorded after a meeting between vocalist Mike Patton and guitarist Duane Denison, the album features members of Faith No More, The Jesus Lizard, Helmet and Melvins. The band toured with Tool in support of the record. Released on October 30, 2001, through Patton's record label Ipecac Recordings, Tomahawk has received positive attention from critics, with most appraisals drawing attention to the versatility of Patton's vocals. The album charted in both Australia and the United States, reaching a peak of number 20 in the Billboard Independent Albums countdown. Production For Tomahawk, the band is composed of Mike Patton, vocalist for Faith No More and Mr. Bungle; Duane Denison, guitarist for The Jesus Lizard; Kevin Rutmanis, bass player for Melvins; and John Stanier, drummer for Helmet. Patton and Denison met in 2000 at a Mr. Bungle concert in Nashville, Tennessee, and began exchanging music. From there, the two began to jam together with a view to releasing an album. In a 2016 interview, Duane Denison stated "I wrote the basic tunes on my own (on a 4-track) and sent the cassettes (this was '99 -2000) to Mike, who then added vocals and samples for me to listen to. I think it took about a year altogether. We tracked and mixed live, altogether, in Nashville." The band hired Joe Funderburk to produce the album; Funderburk had previously worked with Emmylou Harris and The Judds. The album was released through Ipecac Recordings, the record label owned by Patton and Greg Werckman. Ipecac is also home to Rutmanis' band Melvins, whose vocalist and guitarist Buzz Osborne had previously collaborated with Patton as a member of Fantômas. It was recorded in Nashville during mid-2001. Denison reflected "Being in Nashville seemed to bring out the worst in everyone--excessive drinking, anxiety, fighting, etc.....that's the chemistry!". Patton described the new group as "the closest thing to a rock band I've been involved with for a while". Regarding their name, Denison stated "It’s the kind of name an average kid says, “Hey TOMAHAWK is coming to town.” It sounds like it would be this hard, aggressive, typical nu metal band... and we’re not. There's some hard rock to it, but it's not typical. It's not wall to wall big riffs and kicking riffs. It's varied and the name can be deceiving." Release and reception Tomahawk was released on