Fear

Product Information

On headphones especially, it’s not too bassy and mids stand out, which is important to me because I listen to music pretty often on my headphones. It plays quiet, every instrument is represented well in the mix and the heavy sections rip on a good system.

TOOL - Fear Inoculum Vinyl at Juno Records. TOOL - Fear Inoculum Vinyl at Juno Records.

Originally clocking in at 5 minutes 20 seconds, the new take on the track, titled Opiate², extended the party to a monstrous 9 minutes and 54 seconds. Songs like the opening title track feel long because they exist in protracted straight lines of mechanical riffs, as if assembled through an instruction manual. One of Tool’s problems on Fear Inoculum is that, with few exceptions, the songs feel static and brittle. My previoulsy purchased copies of Undertow and Opiate were underwhelming, particularly given that I generally have appreciated early punk rock tool more than later prog rock Tool.I realise there are Tool fans from back in the day who prefer other works but this is a fully-formed musical masterwork that fully justifies the extreme artistic presentation. A fine example of what the group have always done so well - running with wolves like Mogwai, only with far more metal sensibilities, and a damn-sight bigger helping of experimentalism, when this bad boy arrived in 2019 it shot straight to the top of the US Billboard 200, the third consecutive record from the group to do so. Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! As far as the actual album is concerned, the more I listen to it the more I'm coming to terms with how half-assed it sounds.

Tool – Fear Inoculum (2022, Box Set) - Discogs

The stripped-down purity of sound here means that everything hangs on the songs themselves, all of which run over 10 minutes, save for a few ambient interludes and a palate-cleansing, nearly five-minute Carey drum solo backed by a giant custom synth. A better move would have been to vary the length of some of the actual songs, rather than them all being over 10 minutes! Liz works on keeping the Louder sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. It'll feature new artwork from Adam Jones and will be presented in a triple gatefold sleeve, complete with double-sided poster. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.The sets are also autographed, but are only available to fans who bought the Toolarmy VIP tickets to the forthcoming dates on their tour.