So, the new TOOL album is finally out. It’s been 13 long years since they released their last album – 10000 days, and many fans were starting to wonder if the title was a foreshadowing of when we’d hear from them again. Our fears have been assuaged however.
This new release is accompanied by a change from the band’s classic logo, which to be honest I don’t quite know how I feel about yet, but I think I can get used to it given some time. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Then again, perhaps they felt the time had come to change their artistic direction somewhat?
I’ve taken the liberty of embedding the album’s release on Tidal, which can be enjoyed in glorious HiFi quality on this streaming platform, but it’s available on other services too, such as Spotify and Youtube to name a couple.
Hitherto, my favorite tracks off the album are Pneuma and Descending (incidentally, I was privileged enough to hear the latter live at Download Festival earlier this year), but on this album they all are – perhaps with the exception of Chocolate Chip Trip, which I’d say lives up to its name.
Musically I’m pleased with what I’m hearing. Mind you, I’ve only listened to the entire album once so far, so take it with a grain of salt. I’ve been known to let myself get carried away by hype before.
Still, so far so good, and I’ve been enjoying the music put out by this band for a decade and a half now.