Fear Inoculum

With almost 13 years and four months between releases - an interminable wait for their devoted legion of fans - enigmatic alt-metal band Tool finally returned at the end of summer 2019 with their long-awaited fifth album, Fear Inoculum. Clocking in at 80 minutes with just seven official tracks, this is less a straightforward rock record and more a mind-bending journey, borrowing a classical approach that trades traditional constructs heard on early radio staples like "Stinkfist" and "Sober" for something akin to movements within a symphony. Much like the directional shift that occurred around the time of 2001's Lateralus, Fear Inoculum expands on 10,000 Days' alternative, prog-metal jam band design while recapturing some of the excitement and freshness from their commercial peak during the Ænima/Lateralus years…

With almost 13 years and four months between releases – an interminable wait for their devoted legion of fans – enigmatic alt-metal band Tool finally returned at the end of summer 2019 with their long-awaited fifth album, Fear Inoculum. Clocking in at 80 minutes with just seven official tracks, this is less a straightforward rock record and more a mind-bending journey, borrowing a classical approach that trades traditional constructs heard on early radio staples like "Stinkfist" and "Sober" for something akin to movements within a symphony…

With almost 13 years and four months between releases - an interminable wait for their devoted legion of fans - enigmatic alt-metal band Tool finally returned at the end of summer 2019 with their long-awaited fifth album, Fear Inoculum. Clocking in at 80 minutes with just seven official tracks, this is less a straightforward rock record and more a mind-bending journey, borrowing a classical approach that trades traditional constructs heard on early radio staples like "Stinkfist" and "Sober" for something akin to movements within a symphony. Much like the directional shift that occurred around the time of 2001's Lateralus, Fear Inoculum expands on 10,000 Days' alternative, prog-metal jam band design while recapturing some of the excitement and freshness from their commercial peak during the Ænima/Lateralus years…

Fear Inoculum is the upcoming fifth studio album by American rock band Tool. It is the band's first album in thirteen years, due to creative, personal, and legal issues band members encountered since 2006's 10,000 Days. The album is scheduled for release on August 30, 2019.

In retrospect, Opiate seems a little haphazard, but it's possible to hear the seeds of Tool's oppressively bleak, cerebral metal in such cuts as "Sweat" and "Opiate." The two live tracks, "Cold and Ugly" and "Jerk-Off," don't sound out of place, since they share the same churning riffs, black noise, and doom that characterize Tool's sound. This is not as developed as either Undertow or Ænima, but it's possible to hear the roots of those albums all over this EP.