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.

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.

[12] 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.

[15] Writing for AllMusic, Blake Butler rated Tomahawk four stars out of five, describing the album as "moody, violent, beautiful, sarcastic, vomitive, silly [and] heartstopping".

[14] Reed felt that the album was among the most conventional of those recorded by Patton, but still described it as featuring "supercatchy, earstretching vocals, dark lyrics rich in black humour, swathes of crunchy guitars and some of the most unusual rhythms to be played by human hands since time began".

[2] Lazorchak described the album as having "an updated '70s hard rock approach that echoes Blue Öyster Cult at its sinister best", and found the opening song "Flashback" to be a "head-crushing pleasure".

[16] Writing for CMJ New Music Monthly, Dana Buoniconti compared the album to the soundtracks of David Lynch's film and television work—specifically likening "Honeymoon" and "Sweet Smell of Success" to the Twin Peaks theme.