The Co-Op: Tool - Fear Inoculum Album Review

Welcome to “The Co-Op,” where the site’s editor comes out of the woodworks to actually help contribute a dissenting opinion on whatever musical subject lays at hand. For this “special” installment, we covered Tool’s long-awaited followup to 10,000 Days. Expectations are a dangerous thing. When it comes to the release of modern consumer art, much is made of the toxic hype cycle which perpetuates virtually every major announcement. This vicious cycle can dangerously skew perceptions, especially when the excitement involves contrasts to the artist’s greater body of work, in any number of ways. Various flavors of “Oh, it’s gonna be better than the last one,” or “There’s no way it’s gonna be as good as ________,” and the subsequent comparisons which emerge after consumption tend to cull most valuable discourse regarding said work. This is increasingly true when dealing with an artist who has either an immense break period between releases, or a much-beloved back-catalog. Veritable alternative/progressive metal gods Tool have both in droves, and it makes discussing their new album Fear Inoculum incredibly difficult.

Tool is without a doubt THE single most important band for PMMetalGuide when it comes to the development of musical taste. Without them, me and fellow contributor Adam would never have listened to metal in the first place, and we would never have taken the plunge into the infinitely deep well of underground metal and harsh music in general which culminated in the formation of this blog. The legendary lineup of Maynard James Keenan, Adam Jones, Justin Chancellor, and Danny Carey have shaped my listening preferences to such an absurd subconscious degree, that I have trouble quantifying it at all. Why do I only listen to full albums? Tool. Why do I gravitate to climax-focused writing? Tool. Why is prog my favorite genre? Tool. Why do I obsess over the fine line between impressive musicianship and even more impressive songwriting? Tool, Tool effing Tool. Tool was THAT band for me, and I can safely say I know every note of their four studio albums. So it is without hyperbole when I say that Fear Inoculum has probably been my most hyped album of all time.

In the 13 years since 10,000 Days, the fact that a follow up is in the works and will probably never release has become an integral part of the band’s narrative. In my eyes Tool have always been that one legendary (metal) group with a truly spotless with a 4 album discography. Each of these 4 is notable in their own right and showcase different strengths of the band. Undertow saw them burst onto the scene with an interesting blend of grunge-influenced alt-metal that was a tad “heavier” than the rest of the scene. Aenima saw the group coming into their own with more expansive, yet heavy pieces that each led to a fantastic climax and made for one of the best albums of the 90s. Their opus, Lateralus furthered that artistic evolution by looking inward and adding additional levels of rhythmic and melodic complexity and 10,000 accomplished a similar thing with a middling b-side. Each Tool album has a unique identity and fills a role in their catalog. So how can Fear Inoculum carve its special niche and live up to 13 years of impossibly lofty expectations? To address that sizeable elephant, yes. Fear Inoculum is a great album with a distinct identity in the greater canon of the artists who spawned it, in fact, it might even be incredible. 

This record is comprised primarily of 6 cuts, each with an average runtime of over 10 minutes. The added track length means that each piece is inherently longer-winded and less direct than the vast majority of the band’s catalog. Tool has always been known in the popular consciousness as “that band with absurdly long songs,” and Fear Inoculum reifies this idea more so than any of their other releases. That fact gives the album a unique, jammier feel that immediately struck me on my first listen. Gone are the 6 minute, concise, chorus-based alt-metal bops with focused climaxes. In their place, we have vaster and denser pieces that allow the band to construct chilling instrumental atmospheres not present in their other work.

Tool has long been defined by the incredible chemistry between the guitar, bass, and drums, and if anything their hiatus has aged this aspect of their aural soundscapes like a fine wine. Adam, Justin, and Danny sound like one unified whole on this release; and it lets them deftly maneuver these monolithic pieces with a skill that would crush a weaker group under its impressive weight. A song like “Invincible” expertly shifts between a subdued intro, introspective verses, bombastic choruses, a mind-boggling bridge/solo section, and an explosive climax to make for a stunning piece, which is somehow greater than the sum of its parts. Each of these 6 cuts maintains a stunning versatility grounded by impeccable performances. Tool fully takes advantage of the lengthy nature of the tracklist and provide much sonic depth to sink one’s teeth into.

The dense instrumentals (which are undoubtedly the focus of this album) imply more of a background role for Maynard’s vocals. He’s still front and center, ⁠providing that signature blend of intense emotional vulnerability and even more intense and focused aggression, but this time around the voice is treated as another instrumental texture that undulates along with the ever-changing song structures. The melodies are less straight-forward, but they still lead to cathartic hooks and haunting verses.

All of these factors contribute to a Tool album filled with Toolisms that is simply less impactful. Each song might contain drop d riffs over polyrhythmic drum patterns, complete with introspective lyrics and catchy melodies that eventually culminate in an epic climax, but the whole work feels a bit distant. All of the pieces are there for a phenomenal record, but for me at least, the work stops at pretty damn good. The cut “Fear Inoculum” sounds like a heavier “Reflection,” but lacks an album defining peak. “Pneuma” meanders a bit too long and never offers a payoff for the minutes of buildup. “Invincible” harkens back to older bangers such as “Vicarious” or “Schism” without ever matching the penultimate bursts of aggression that made their heights so dizzying. “Descending” and “7empest” probably come the closest to the group’s former fist-pumping anthemic glory, but they linger for too long on stale motifs instead of allowing Jone’s amazing lead work room to breathe.

Earlier, I spoke about the dangers of comparisons when it comes to hype, but when listening to Fear Inoculum, it seems I can only come up with unfavorable juxtapositions to cuts from across the band’s catalog. Looking at this work, I face some odd critical dissonance. I truly believe the album is great, it may even be amazing, but something unquantifiable feels “off.” Perhaps it’s due to the lengthier track time, the less direct climaxes or the diminished presence of Keenan’s vocals. The rational side of me can recognize these glaring flaws and even reason their negative impact on this album, but that aspect constantly clashes with the tangible enjoyment I derive from just hearing Tool firing on all cylinders. At the very least, this album exists as an emblem of exactly what the band wanted to do in 2019 and there is an undeniable charm in the innocence of that statement. Countless bands return from lengthy breaks to spit out “meh” releases that barely hint at their former greatness. Tool have at least conjured enough of their former glory to convince someone like me that this work is worthwhile and posits an intriguing entry into their canon.

Simply put, Fear Inoculum comes across as a twilight transmission from a dying titan. Moments of greatness occasionally poke their gilded heads out from the muck of uncompromising, competent musicianship to remind the inner me of some wistful adolescent bliss before suffocating in a soup of prog mediocrity. I genuinely love this record, and it will almost certainly crack the list of my favorite albums for 2019. The performances are unbelievably tight and each main song (the 3 “transition” pieces are awful and add almost nothing to the overall experience by the way) presents an alluring aspect of their previous work that quite nearly captures the energy that made Aenima and Lateralus masterpieces. Maybe for me and the countless hordes of Tool fans, this is enough, and the intangible feeling of mild, blossoming disappointment that comes with maturity won’t overtake the remnants of aural bliss. 

Final Score: "Once invincible, now the armor's wearing thin"

Favorite Tracks: “7empest,” “Descending”

- Sam Graff

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Tool is easily one of my favorite bands of all time. Their music embodies just about everything I love in this medium of art. It is heavy (in its own right), passionate, catchy, and well-written and performed. This artist is also the first “true” metal band I ever listened to, and I can always rely on their nigh perfect discography to welcome me back with open arms when I feel a hankering. Sam talked most of the shop in his little intro, so I’m not going to repeat what he said, other than this band means a lot to us, as performers, music listeners, and people in general. So what do I think of this album?

This is Tool’s worst album. Now, before you raise your pitchforks in anger, let me speak on this topic. As I mentioned before, Tool has a nigh perfect discography, so can their worst album be really that bad? The answer is no. Comparably to masterpieces like Lateralus’ and Aenima’s 10s, Fear Inoculum is a comfortable 7. For the record, this is a good album, but it must be said that it is easily their most phoned-in and bland performance overall. The first and sole single for this album, the title track, gave me hope for this release, showcasing a familiar, but odd template of sounds that any Tool fan will become infatuated with and spin repeatedly until they know every polyrhythm, vocal lead, and guitar melody. It showed me that we would not have a re-run of A Perfect Circle’s 2018 album, Eat the Elephant, one of the single worst comeback albums I have ever played through my headphones. To give “Fear Inoculum” some credit, it was leagues stronger than any of the songs on that horrible release, and from the first listen I knew the fandom was in for something positive.

Composed of 6 monolithic tracks each standing over 10 minutes in length, the rest of the time spent on this album is devoted to interlude tracks, which are no foreign subject to Tool at all, especially in their more “recent” efforts. However, they are extraordinarily weak. Where tracks like “Mantra” led beautifully into “Schism” and “Lost Keys (Blame Hofman)” perfectly into “Rosetta Stoned,” not one of these tracks does anything similar. They are merely thrown in to break up in the outrageously long centerpieces to give the listener a breather, which is at least appreciated. The title track heads straight into the almost boring “Pneuma.” “Pneuma” is probably the weakest track of the 6 true songs, with its suspiciously similar “The Patient” sounding intro and vibe. This semblance to that much better Lateralus cut is probably the only thing of note “Pneuma” manages to conjure throughout its nearly 12-minute runtime, even to the most avid of Tool listener. Its riffs are boring, and the whole track feels like what “The Patient” chorus tells us: “Be patient.” So while “Litanie Contre la Peur” is a needed break from this bore, it’s horrible. 2 minutes of “ambient” synth work manages to contribute almost nothing to the album listening experience.

Following this are “Invincible” and “Descending,” split by another interlude “Legion Inoculant.” These tracks are fine. They aren’t exceptional, but they don’t reach a low like “Pneuma” does. They are songs that embody exactly what I expected this Tool album to sound like, and for that, I cannot really hate them. They are what they are, and because they meet the bare minimum of Toolisms + competent songwriting, I’m going to love them eventually. “Legion Inoculant” is also fine in comparison to the previous interlude, but is once again pointless except for providing a break in the tracklist. I will say, however, that in the last two full songs on this album,  that the entire band wakes up. “Culling Voices,” and “7empest” exemplify everything this band is about, even if dumbed down. “Culling Voices” is similar to tracks like “Disposition” and “Parabol” where the calm and meditative atmosphere almost induce a trance upon the listener, with Maynard’s crooning vocals over Adam’s jumping guitar riffs. This builds to one of the stronger climaxes on the album, with punchy drums, aggressive guitars, and Maynard’s reserved snarled vocals. As easily my favorite song on the album, I also feel as if this song is the most unique of the lot. It shows a lot of Tool former, but it recombines their tropes in such a way to make something new. This is not shown on any of the other tracks, where I feel like rehashing and revisiting old sounds was their crutch in the writer’s room. “7empest” is probably the next best song, with its highs pretty damn high. Similar to “Vicarious” and “Hooker With A Penis,” with just a dash of the guitar-driven climax from “Lateralus.” The track is loaded with hooky guitar melodies, snappy vocal lines, and complex time signatures, so basically like every other Tool song.

The album is good. As a comeback record, Tool has accomplished what many bands haven’t. While reviews have been mixed so far, I can agree with most points that have been presented from either view to a certain extent. It is a well-written and well-executed album by this veteran band, and fans should rejoice in that glory. However, it is noteworthy that it is for sure their worst. It is extremely long, somewhat bloated, and boring in some parts. Although these points might be true, the majority Tool fans will love this album. Fear Inoculum is much more than I expected from this project, but at the same time, I must remain somewhat “objective” in my review. So, it's an exciting, but unfortunately underwhelming album from a band that I will never truly hate.

Final Score: “Guys, Loving The Alien is clearly Tool’s best release!”

Favorite Tracks: “Culling Voices”, “7empest”
- Adam Richards

Hopefully, this “review” managed to articulate even a fragment of that impossible, cosmic sense which comes with the realization of our personal heroes mortality.