About

Tool is an alternative/progressive metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1990. Consisting of Maynard James Keenan, Danny Carey, Adam Jones, and Justin Chancellor, the group has gained acclaim due to their complex compositions and styles ranging from heavy metal to art rock, their stance on the music industry, and their visual art style, seen in their live shows and album art. The band is set to release their fifth studio album Fear Inoculum in 2019, their first in over 13 years.

History

Tool was formed in 1990 and originally consisted of Keenan, Carey, Jones, and Paul D'Amour. Their first release as a band was their demo album 72826 released the following year in 1991. The album would earn them a record deal with Zoo Entertainment, which would release their debut EP Opiate on March 10th, 1992. Following the release of Opiate in subsequent years would be the albums Undertow in 1992, Ænima in 1996, Lateralus in 2001, and 10,000 Days in 2006; the former two featuring D'Amour before his departure in 1995, and the latter two earning the band three Grammy Awards.^[1] Jones was the primary influence in the band's visual style, being the art director for the band's album artwork and music videos.

Fear Inoculum

Around 2012, the band gave updates regarding the recording of a new studio album, their first piece of new music since 2006's 10,000 Days. In the years that followed, the writing process of the album was hindered by band members getting injured during road accidents, and lawsuits being filed against the band for copyright disputes regarding artworks used for the albums. The eventually long wait caused by these various incidents caused a large number of fans to grow impatient, and frontman Maynard James Keenan was often prompted to justify himself regarding the status of the upcoming release. However, as Maynard James Keenan always writes lyrics for Tool only when the music is fully written, he could not answer to those pleas, and spent time focusing on writing new material for his side projects A Perfect Circle and Puscifer instead.

From 2017 to 2018, the band returned to giving updates on the upcoming record. On May 8th, 2019, Tool announced on Twitter and at a show in Birmingham, Alabama that their new album would be released on August 30th.^[2]

On July 29th, the group officially announced the title of their forthcoming album Fear Inoculum. The group also added that their previous albums, including the Opiate EP would be coming to streaming services and digital storefronts for the first time ever starting on August 2nd.^[6] On August 5th, the album's cover art was revealed followed by the release of the title track as the lead single on August 7th.

Fear Inoculum was officially released and was positively received by a majority of critics and fans, most of them claiming that the quality of the record was "worth the wait". Band members explained during interviews that Fear Inoculum was partially inspired by Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune.

Reputation

Tool have developed a reputation as one of the most influential alternative metal bands of the modern era. Critics have written the band helped pave the way for bands like System of a Down, Korn, and Deftones,^[3] while Keenan's vocal style has been cited as an influence in groups like Chevelle, Breaking Benjamin, and Limp Bizkit.

Online Presence

Tool has a devoted online fanbase, though they themselves seem to eschew social media. The group has over 2.8 million likes on Facebook^[4] and a subreddit with over 56,000 subscribers.^[5] While there are no Tool-specific meme formats, the group has been used in other templates such as Today I Will Listen to Some X and Expand Dong (examples shown below).

Search Interest

External References