There’s not much actual news around the new Tool album around at the moment, except for the announcement that it’s coming on August 30th. There is a bunch of rumours and speculation around the place, that in order to keep you guys (any myself) amused, I’m going to list, and then give some kind thoughts about whether I reckon it’s legit or not.
Note that some of below could be considered spoilers, so stop reading now if you don’t want to encounter them!
- The next Tool album will be a double album. This has been suggested by many Tool fans on numerous occasions. Given that the band has spent 13 years writing, surely they must have enough material right? Maybe they do, but everything I’ve heard suggests that it will be a regular CD length album. Word is from a few of my sources are that we should expect less tracks than we think, but that they are all longer.
- Descending and Invincible might not be on the album. This one’s a bit absurd actually. Some seem to think that these two tracks are just previews of sorts, and that they either won’t be on the album, or will exist in a significantly different form. I ain’t buying it!
- The new album packaging will contain some kind of battery. This one was reportedly mention by Danny Carey at a Baked Potato show a month or so ago. I’m pretty confident at this time the reason the album is coming in August instead of July is likely to be packaging related, and while I have no insight as to whether it has a battery or not, it seems plausible that at the very least we’re going to see something out of the ordinary this time around.
- Alex Grey will be providing the cover art once more. There was an Alex Grey interview with Metal Injection recently, in which there was a question asked regarding Tool that was avoided by Alex. Some took this to be a hint that Alex would be doing the cover art once more. I’m skeptical at this time – a reliable rumour I heard was that the artwork was an unseen piece of art, and that it wasn’t recognisably any particular artist. Given that Grey has a pretty strong artistic style, I take this to mean he’s unlikely to be the cover artist. That said, I would be a little surprised if there was none if his art in the packaging.
- The first track will be released in July. There was a Reddit post recently in which a radio DJ announced he expected the new single in July. I’m unsure if he really has legit info to confirm this, but to me it seems a no brainer that we’ll see a more thorough album launch in July, including the album title, track list, packaging options and of course a “single”. Don’t expect this 10 minute plus track to be appearing on your typical radio station though. More interesting question is will there be a video?
- Maynard doesn’t “scream” on the new album. A few sources that have reportedly heard the album, seem to confirm that Maynard’s vocals are a bit more laid back this time around, and that they heard no “screaming” on the album. Based on the two tracks performed so far, it’s easy to see how this could be a thing. Maynard is not an angry young man any more, and there are many songs he finds hard to perform live these days, the obvious one being Vicarious. I reckon Tool will be very keen to play most, if not all of the album live, so expect that Maynard’s vocals will be tempered with that in mind.
- David Lynch will be making the first video. This is an odd rumour, based purely on a couple of band members “liking” his Twitter account around about the same time. Reportedly Lynch also mentioned listening to an unnamed 90s band recently. I guess Tool fits the bill. There’s nothing to rule this out, but I’ll be pretty surprised if he’s secretly filming some kind of Tool video for the new album.
- The new album will be called Chöd. Yeah right…..
Any other questions?