Tomahawk, the Melvins and Dälek

Ipecac Records' traveling Geek Show hits the Ridglea Theater in Fort Worth on Wednesday night; if you're disappointed in the turn metal's taken through the mainstream in recent years, you should, too. Headliners Tomahawk are a straight-up supergroup staffed by Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/Ipecac mastermind Mike Patton, ex-Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison, current Melvins bassist Kevin Rutmanis and former Helmet drummer John Stanier. Mit Gas, the just-released follow-up to the band's self-titled 2001 debut, comes packaged in a beautiful fake-gold-leaf-stamped digipack that looks exactly like the wallpaper at an Indian restaurant and aptly reflects the music on the CD it houses: structurally imposing, mad florid and a little tacky in a good way. When they switch gears from "Rape This Day"'s precise creeping-death groove to the chintzy funk strut of "You Can't Win" (which features yet another bravura vocal performance from Patton's iron lungs), you'll be so glad you're not at a Cold show. Also on the bill: Forbiddingly coiffed and legendarily heavy geeks the Melvins, ostensibly touring in support of the new 26 Songs, an expanded reissue of 1986's 10 Songs, but just as likely to hit you over the head with something from their still-hard-to-believe Atlantic Records stint or some unreleased new sludge-jam. Dälek, New Jersey's grubby hip-hop unit, opens, if only to prove how malleable metal can be in the right hands. Which these are.