Tool announce new album, Fear Inoculum, coming August 30

[GunpointMetal]

I knew what I was getting before I even started the video, so I can't say I'm disappointed. Definitely even more apathetic to the release than I already was. AEnima and Lateralus will always have a place in my heart because of when I started listening to them, but I'm not interesting in hearing a band keep repeating themselves. I hope it makes everyone whose been waiting patiently happy, and I'll probably still give the whole thing a spin (when it hits streaming in 2029), but no boner for me, lol.

 

[KailM]

It's okay. Not spectacular, but not terrible either. I've probably just moved on from their sound. Definitely interested in hearing the whole album.

 

[prlgmnr]

maybe fear of tedium would have been more motivating

 

[MASS DEFECT]

It sure has that nice and clear production. Guitars sounded huge. Bass was cool with that slap back delay thing. Drums were kinda ok, Lateralus sound. But could have used more snap in the snare.

But it sounds like the same old Drop D riffs.

 

[brector]

Is the word you're looking for "anticlimactic"?

With 100% sincerity, I'm happy for the people who are really excited about this. They will not be disappointed. For anyone who is blah, it is not going to change their mind.

I was excited, now I am not

 

[kisielk]

I was a fairly big Tool fan around the time Lateralus was released, 10,000 days was kind of meh. Just kind of busy without really covering any new ground. This new song sounds pretty much like more of the same. If they'd released this in 2003 it would have been awesome but I think I've just moved on now.

 

[Ordacleaphobia]

I'm unimpressed with the title track but still really excited for the album. The two songs they played live were incredible.
Even still, it wasn't bad- it just wasn't the style of Tool that I'm personally partial too. I still liked it.

 

[Demiurge]

It's almost impressive for a band to go all of this time between albums and somehow manage to not absorb or incorporate a single new idea/sound/texture along the way.

 

[kisielk]

Hah yeah, when it was building I was basically doing a mental checklist of Tool sounds. "Phaser + panned guitars? check. Drone synth? check. Punchy bass? yep. Tabla? uh huh. Busy tom patterns? yep. Drop-D riffs? got it" etc. I'm still going to listen to the rest of the album and probably enjoy it some what, but this first track really felt like a cliché. Maybe there will be some surprises.

 

[cardinal]

Listened to the track. It was fine. Not mind blowing and not terrible, though I felt like some of the riffing had been done in prior Tool songs. Almost seemed like they mailed it in, yet they apparently have been obsessing over the album?

Oh well. It's great that they've at least gotten the album done and will be releasing it. The weight of expectations sometimes is just silly. Hope they can get back to enjoying being Tool and maybe that will lead to better things.

 

[Nonapod]

A Tool song that sounds like a Tool song. There are certainly far worse things. I'd still take a predictable Tool song over perhaps 98% of the stuff that's released in 2019.

I've been listening to Tool since 1993, being the ancient creature that I am. I remember buying Undertow not because of "Sober" (which I thought was just an OK tune with an awesome video) but because I heard the song "Intolerance" blaring out of the dorm room across the hall from mine during my freshman year of college. I pretty much instantly fell in love with Maynard's sceamed "YOU LIE! CHEAT! STEAL!" refrain and pretty much went out and bought the CD the next day (and befriended the dude across the hall from me).

I loved Opiate, Undertow, and Aenima. They really felt sonically special back in the mid 90s. I merely liked Lateralus and 10,000 days. By the early 2000's, there were loads of bands who had adopted a ton of... Tool-isms... for lack of a better descriptor... into their music. You could hear their influence in everything from Chevelle to Karnivool. Even some of Opeth's stuff had certain Toolish overtones at times. Tool themselves didn't feel quite as special anymore. Their sound hadn't changed, but the world changed around them, even because of them.

I still like them though. And I will still listen to the new album, and if I like what I hear I'll buy the disc. As with all things.

 

[fps]

I've been listening to Tool since 1993, being the ancient creature that I am. I remember buying Undertow not because of "Sober" (which I thought was just an OK tune with an awesome video) but because I heard the song "Intolerance" blaring out of the dorm room across the hall from mine during my freshman year of college. I pretty much instantly fell in love with Maynard's sceamed "YOU LIE! CHEAT! STEAL!" refrain and pretty much went out and bought the CD the next day (and befriended the dude across the hall from me).

Intolerance is a brilliant song. The first three tracks of Undertow are so fantastic.

 

[Nonapod]

Intolerance is a brilliant song.

I totally agree obviously.

Here's a funny aside about that song for me: Because in certain parts of the song Maynard's vocals make it difficult to clearly discern the lyrics, for the longest time I thought the part midway through where he sings "You are not innocent" I thought he was saying "You are those little sins", which I think sounds cooler anyway.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

While we are all waxing Tool nostaglia anyway...

I remember I was in Hong Kong summer of 2002. I was in HMV one night and I was choosing between Nine Inch Nails All That Could Have Been and Tool's Salival. I was holding both boxes and just looking at them. Then suddenly a voice came from behind the shelf. "You should get that Black box." Some tall white dude was behind me. It was freakin' Danny Carey!!! In fckin Hong Kong of all places!

You bet I for sure got Salival.

 

[c7spheres]

- I really liked the intro. The rest sounds like the Tool formula of Lateralus and 10,000 Days. I like how it has some heavy guitars but they don't come off that way. I know that live it would probably be a totally different vibe for this song. Probably much heavier.
- I find the song good, but a bit underwhelming. So far it seems like what I wasn't wanting, which is Lateralus b-sides pt.2. Which isn't terrible but I look forward to hearing the rest of the album in context. It's to early still. The rest of the album could be the best stuff they ever made for all I know.
-This version is nice and mellow for those rainy days I want to chill out and contemplate my $45 coffee, or I can buy a $100 deluxe latte and get an extra 10 min of music along with my LCD screen, crap speakers that won't properly represent the music they're playing, charging cord and rechargeable battery that will probably fail to charge after a few years.
- Gotta hand it to marketing. They are gonna cash in on this. They've become the cliche that is all current consumer products. Everything comes with an lcd screen and rechargeable battery. Refrigerators, the front door of your house etc. It's not being advertised that way or as an obvious cliche, so they will use everyone as a tool to get the money, then after it's pointed out after time goes by how cliche it was, people will say they meant it that way as an artistic statement or something. Like they're geniuses. Play the game Tool, play the game. Good job.

 

[failsafe]

I used to like Tool before every song was a meditation track.

 

[coreysMonster]

I like the single and I'm hyped for the album. Just hearing Maynard's voice over Tool (and not Puscifer or APC) again already "meets expectations" for me.

 

[coreysMonster]

EDIT: Double posted by accident.

 

[Paul Gilbert]

Sounds like Tool

Do you guys not want Tool to sound like Tool?

 

[Chris Bowsman]

Sounds like Tool

Do you guys not want Tool to sound like Tool?

There’s development on the first few albums, spaced like 6 or 7 years apart total. This sounds just like the one from 13 years ago.