After an extensive 13 years, Tool finally released their 5th studio album titled Fear Inoculum. The title track was pre-released shortly before the album debuted, and everyone realized that “It’s finally happening!”.
Fear Inoculum was officially released on August 30th. All of the thousands of fans waited years with bated breath, and the day the album released, many rushed to buy the album putting it very high on the charts for sales, even passing up Taylor Swift’s recent album.
The record contains 10 tracks and is just shy of 90 minutes in length, making it Tool’s longest album yet. As any Tool album, it is very artistically done; the thickly layered music full of interesting beats was there as it always it with any Tool album. Maynard James Keenan’s vocals were melodic and intriguing as they always are. All in all, it is a pretty standard Tool album in those aspects.
Looking at the album as a whole, it is easy to see that Fear Inoculum differs from those prior as it features songs that are far longer, which are also characterized by heavier instrumentals. Tool is no stranger to the concept of lengthy songs that change and evolve as they progress, however the longest track on the new record is well over 15 minutes.
The album is not quite as conventionally digestible as some of their prior albums have been, nor is it particularly as heavy. The crisp effects are definitely different compared to their previous sound. This definitely seems to be a project that took a lot of time and forethought.
Breaking the album down, the best tracks were definitely “Pneuma”, “Culling Voices”, and “7empest”. Lyrically the album was pretty abstract, more so than usual for Tool (which is definitely something).
This was probably the albums biggest downfall. Tool is a band that you are waiting to hear a different take from. They analyze things introspectively or almost through a philosophical perspective. They’ve been known to breakdown aspects of culture in ways that can be inventive or very upfront. This album went to extremes with an obscure approach to the writing and overall mixing of the music. If you are a dedicated fan you will love this album overall despite the obscurity.
It is completely different from the rest of their discography due to the more abstract or avant garde style of writing and unique overall combination, especially by putting Maynard James Keenan’s vocals in the background instead of the foreground.
The song “7empest”, however, may be one of their most involved tracks of all time. The track is over 15 minutes long and is truly a wonderful blend of various melodies from previous tracks in Tool’s discography, all while still introducing something new.
The best way to describe the new album is the calm before the storm. There is less anger in this album, yet the album’s lyrics seem to be more exasperated than anything. It comes across very removed from society as a whole. The album takes on far more spiritual concepts in this album compared to those previous.
It is not my favorite Tool album, however, it is still a rather good one. It takes a few listens and with each one it grows on you. If you are into very artistic and progressive music this would be an epic album for you!
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