Just hearing the name “Tool” brings back fond, angsty memories of teenagehood. The alternative metal band recently released their first album since 2006, Fear Inoculum. They’ve always had a dark, progressive, and creative sound, so when it was released on Aug. 30 you better believe I was all over it. I was disappointed upon first listen though, and I lost interest pretty quickly; there was a lot of hype for this album with not a whole lot of bang.
While Tool, for a first-time listener, is probably going to be mind-blowing, as someone who’s listened to the band since hearing my dad play them in early childhood, I was pretty underwhelmed and bored. I can’t say it was bad because, well, it’s Tool and they’re amazing, but I can say that, for the band, it was pretty generic. To be fair, Tool has generally stuck to their signature sound for most of their career and much of their strength comes from their lyrics; Maynard James Keenan et al. definitely have a way with words, and it shone through for this album, too.
Fear Inoculum calls for an awakening from something meaningless and mad, apparent in the track “Descending”: “Drifting through this boundlessness / This madness of our own making” and “Stir us from our / Wanton slumber / Mitigate our ruin / Calls us to arms and order.” Suggested in many tracks is a battle against something alluring, perhaps the calm before the storm as seen in “7empest”: “You are darkness / Trying to lull us in, before the havoc begins / Into a dubious state of serenity” and “Calm before the torrent comes / Calm before the tempest comes to reign all over.” It’s pretty clear that whatever inspired this new album was pretty powerful, and the members put a lot of passion into the lyrics, which is not unusual for the band.
While most of the tracks are pure audio, the ones with lyrics tell an intricate and complicated story of a fight against darkness with light, as seen in the lyrics of the first track, “Fear Inoculum”: “The deceiver says, he says / You belong to me / You don’t wanna breathe the light of the others / Fear the light, fear the breath / Fear the others for eternity / But I hear them now, inhale the clarity.” I would go as far as to say that this was one of their most directly spiritual albums as Keenan’s vocals were clearer and used repetitive references about being blessed. It seemed to be an intentional and urgent way to get their message across.
The band had been in hiding for the past 13 years. They weren’t even on Spotify until early August. That’s right, this past August. Now that they’re back, it’s clear they have something to say. The album wasn’t anything too new, and was maybe more of an attempt to stay relevant, or at least say “Hey! We’re still here! Don’t forget about us!” than to hype us up with some wild, new sound. On its own, it may have been good, but in comparison to their past albums it wasn’t captivating enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. Although, maybe it’s just because I’m not an angsty teen anymore. Who knows.
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after. She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.
