Tool – Fear Inoculum
(Volcano Entertainment / RCA Records)
Reviewed by Onyx Bates.
Tool. For their disciples, Fear Inoculum is more important than the resurrection of Jesus Christ himself. The release of their long-awaited fifth studio album leaving just one question on everyone’s lips; was it worth the thirteen year wait?
Many had begun to give up hope that the album would ever eventuate at all, band injuries, Keenan’s side projects (A Perfect Circle and Puscifer) as well as ongoing legal issues seemingly stalling the process at every turn. But throughout the years Tool has remained as one, no hint of disbandment ever permeating the air, rumours to the contrary dismissed with each small update on their website or teaser spilling from their lips; the band continuing to tour, headline slots at festivals despite no new material being forthcoming since 2006’s 10,000 Days all resulting in a fervour that only Tool fans can comprehend. The torch of hope burned within the chest of their followers.
But as the years continued to pass, the arrival of a new album seemed ever more doubtful, reports that Jones, Chancellor and Carey were still slowly toiling away, creating the all-important instrumentals that had to be finalised before vocal virtuoso himself Maynard James Keenan could go about writing the lyrics, analysed with a critical eye.
A breakthrough. February 2018 and Maynard announces that after “eleven years of begging” he now had music files marked final in his hands; predictably the internet went wild. This album could appear before the year is out. Of course, 2018 did not see the release of Fear Inoculum, but it did see the rise of Eat The Elephant, A Perfect Circles first album in fourteen years, and while it is extraordinarily good, Maynard’s vocals at peak performance level, it. just. wasn’t. Tool. Another Christmas came and went, a New Year too, and still no album. Tweets coated in the typical trolling style humour of Maynard fluctuated, a photo of the band (sans Maynard) alongside producer Joe Barresi and mastering engineer Bob Ludwig ensconced in the very same studio where they recorded 10,000 Days soon followed. Excitement levels once again rose in anticipation that 2019 just might be the year.
Then on May the 6th Tool played not one but two new songs during their headline set at Rockville festival after hinting at the possibility just four days beforehand. You could almost hear fans across the world stop breathing, the collective hive mind immediately setting about obtaining all snippets of recordings they could lay their hands on. Two days later a release date drops, tears of relief are shed and the long, arduous wait til August 30th MMXIX began.
So once again, was it worth the wait?
Physical versions of Fear Inoculum offer exactly seven tracks, the digital version delivering a little more bang for your buck in the form of ten; three interludes added to the mix. The title track of ‘Fear Inoculum’ a just over ten-minute opus opens the album, its intro a swirling crescendo of ambience. Maynard’s vocals coming through more subdued than one would first expect yet simultaneously reiterating the fact that as a vocalist he is unparalleled. Time shifts, yet at no point does the track feel like it is ambling, instead growing in intensity, the instruments seemingly digging in deeper, the song itself looming over you with its cavernous third eye before Carey and Jones beat you into the ground with furious synchronised precision.
Yes. Fear Inoculum is unmistakably Tool.
Tendrils of the past have certainly influenced the now, overtones of ‘Schism’ from Lateralus tripping through ‘Pneuma’ with a half step gait, the track itself clocking in at nearly twelve minutes. Maynard’s voice slips in an out as he speaks of spirit, calling upon the child to ‘release the light’, the song title itself defined as vital spirit or the creative force of a person. Tool may have finally joined the modern age, all four albums and one EP now available on all the usual streaming services, but with this latest record it certainly seems that Maynard is still calling for us to turn away from the influential flickering box within our hands. “If you can’t go ten minutes without looking at your phone, you are an addict” Maynard declared in a recent interview, comparing the validation of social media for one’s next dopamine dump not dissimilar to being a heroin addict; it’s a topic that obviously plays on his mind, the track ‘Disillusioned’ from A Perfect Circle conveying a similar message.
Moving through the album it is evident that Jones and Carey have very much shifted to the forefront, the science tucked in behind the music, the mathematics used in their counts creating soundscapes that demand further exploration, each time revealing a new discovery. The three interlude tracks again yield something altogether different, the first for example entitled ‘Litania contre la Peur’ (Litany against fear) pointing the listener towards a quote from the author of Dune, Frank Herbert:
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
Here is a band who with age have learned to embrace the choices that are most important to them; they have found comfort within the confines of their own flesh, inoculating themselves against fear itself and instead fashioning it into artistic creation with a determined mindset that dismisses judgement. A warrior struggling to remain consequential as he beats his tired bones again, the lyrics of ‘Invincible’ tell us, the song divided into three parts that feature yet another breathtaking solo from Jones.
‘Descending’ is atmospheric glory, Maynard at times transcending the bounds of human abilities as his vocals shape-shift in complexities. The musical elements of Tool often encompassing an emotive if at times contradictory nature. Prog enthusiasts most likely to find their deepest satisfaction within the folds of this track.
But the album is not all about galaxy gazing while contemplating the meaning of one’s life; Tool throwing in a maddening curveball in the form of ‘Chocolate Chip Trip’ where a repetitive alien sounding background is overlaid with – once again – precision drumming by Carey in a solo that could give some of the jazz greats a run for their money. In some ways it is a palate cleanser for what is about to come, the quirkiness of the track resetting one’s neurons before throwing you headfirst into ‘7empest’ which gives the listener their first real taste of that aggression that Maynard can bring to his words; darting outwards, their fangs sink into your hands as you reach out to steady yourself. A storm is coming he warns, the recurring heavy riff – one that according to Justin Chancellor, Jones has had knocking about since 1996 when they were recording Aenima – played in the more unusual time signature of 21, once again defining Tool as a band, the song itself undoubtedly destined to become a favourite of their devotees.
Ultimately Fear Inoculum will be well worth the agonising wait for so many of Tool’s fans, the record a behemoth that at first glance may not yield the obvious singles that previous albums did, but on closer inspection is understood to exist on a far higher plane than that. This is an album that has been created by eternal artists, weary and scarred they have poured their life’s work into compositions that will undoubtedly be revered, deliberated and held aloft for years to come.
Whether it will be their final battle cry however, remains to be seen, but if it is then Tool are leaving those blood-soaked fields victorious.
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