I’m officially back into Tool. They just released Fear Inoculum yesterday and I’m already in love.

I know, I know. They’re not goth. They’re not even industrial. In fact, they kind of started out as white trash/frat bro alternative metal. Their name is a joke/crude sexual reference and a couple of their most famous songs are also jokes/crude sexual references. But even then, behind all that there was an intense creativity and emotional rawness I loved. And now, decades later, they’ve grown into something dark, tense, abstract, complex.

Fear Inoculum has the kind of symbol-laden, abstract lyrics of Tool’s last couple of albums, and the sprawling atmospheric musical style. But the gritty, driving rhythms give this album a tension that takes me back to their early work. I didn’t even realize I’d missed it. I’ll definitely be obsessing over this album for the next couple of weeks, and probably diving back into their older work as well.

Tool has become known for their album art, so I’m tempted to physically buy this album, but it’s only available as an expensive collector’s style package so I may have to content myself with digital for now.

Now:

Way back then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hglVqACd1C8