Break out your occult message decoder rings, the polyrhythmic wizards have returned with “Fear Inoculum,” their first new studio recording since 2006. The full album arrives August 30, but the title track is now available to accompany your interdimentional demon-summoning follies. Listen as Tool returns from outer space with an evolved depth of sonic gravity on “Fear Inoculum”:
Singer and, judging by the lead track, demonic whisperer Maynard James Keenan explains: “I feel like this is [about] wisdom through age, through experience. Hopefully through aging you find wisdom in some of the things you’ve encountered. Learning from your mistakes, learning from your successes. So if anything is a broad stroke of this album, it would be embracing where we are right now, acknowledging where we’ve come from and some of the things we’ve grown through.”
Adam Jones shared the feeling: “Things like, ‘I’m gonna wear socks with sandals. I don’t give a fuck what people think, I’m just gonna be comfortable.’ [laughs] So it’s about the little things in life. It’s making those choices and moving on and growing. There’s a little bit of Frank Herbert’s Dune in that, so I’m into it. I’m so excited for this new record. The songs are very long but they are like movements. It’s like two or three songs in one, but they relate. They flow. So I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. But I am ecstatic.”
And so are we. Unraveling this track should be fun while we wait for the full release event on August 30. I’m already tripping on the quick little guitar flourish at 10:02. Shit’s fantastic.
If your jaw hits the floor at the price of the pre-order, in return you’ll receive a deluxe, limited-edition CD version of Fear Inoculum, created and directed by guitarist Adam Jones, features a 4” HD rechargeable screen with exclusive video footage, charging cable, 2 watt speaker, a 36-page booklet and a digital download card.
