Tool overnight revealed the cover for Fear Inoculum overnight via Instagram. The design vaguely resembles a computer animated spiral of eyes, or perhaps a snake skin. To me it seems more mechanical than organic. There’s no real clarification of the artist, however as noted yesterday it was heavily hinted to be Alex Grey.
I would say it’s relatively low-key compared to other Tool albums, though I do expect that most of the interesting bits about the package will be found on the inside, rather than the cover.
As noted in the post, pre-order details will arrive tomorrow, going on sale on Wednesday. Hopefully a track too!
What do you all think?
Honestly, I do feel a tad underwhelmed, however I have a feeling the full artwork will be revelead once we see the full packaging, and it’s supposed to be epic so I’m not too worried. This just feels like a teaser of the overall art.
I was a little underwhelmed by the 10,000 Days cover initially as well, but it turned out the cover was the weakest part. Could easily be the case this time around as well.
Exactly. It’s whats on the inside that counts. I am looking forward to the entire artwork as this is obviously just a small piece of it.
I do believe this is a piece of the cover art, but I think it’s maybe just 1 layer. I think there will be more to it, and it will be a surprise when people receive their media… That is, as long as they don’t see it online before the 30th.
It’s obviously simple in design if we just focus on that one graphic but surely the cover we see here is just part of some larger piece that constitutes the album artwork. I reckon it will all unfold and create some bigger picture. The snake/serpent thing also appears obvious here; it could be some larger snake made up of a ‘sea of eyes’ etc. Like the lenticular Aenima cover, it’s probably designed to create a sense of depth and glimmers in the process…
This does point to the rumour of the cover utilising LEDs…
Hellboi, is this artwork consistent with the description you were provided a few months ago?
The description I got months ago was vague enough that it’s hard to rule it out. The main point I took from it was that it’s something we haven’t seen before, which is definitely the case, yet not really enough cause to get excited about either.
First underwhelmed, but dig it.
Gotta hand it to them, they are sticking to their Grey guns aesthetically. Kinda bold in a way.
Definitely the packaging will be interesting. But like what someone else on here said awhile back, it’s what’s inside that I NEED.
It really looks like the the 10k Days CD art that was also used as a backdrop during the Lateralus tour, from a different angle, and given that the eyes move it calls back to the Ænima cover. I don’t mean to sound critical, because it really is awesome and going off 10k days, you know they’re going to up the ante with the packaging like they have everytime. And I’m fascinated by the “chakra layout” of all their album covers. There’s a clear thread that connects them all. Adam said Alex Grey calls it The Great Turn, which apparently… Read more »
I’m excited we get to hear new creations. But, the mathematician in me realizes that on Wednesday … we’ll have already heard 43% of the new album, if, the rumors of 7 tracks are true. ha ha!
I could be way off but part of me wonders if Fear Inoculum the title track is the official name for Descending.
True. Since, technically they haven’t released any tracks. Pirated YouTube recordings is all. So, the single could be Descending or Invincible.
Invincible and Descending are referenced in both the Guitar World and Revolver magazines, so I suspect a name change is unlikely at this time
If the new Opiate is on the album, yep, that’s nearly half the album heard before its release.
Somebody enlighten me… Does “lead track” mean we get the single on Wednesday?! Excuse my ignorance!
I think after you pre-order you’ll get the single or lead track
If taken literally, it certainly suggests we will get a single on Wednesday. I definitely hope so!
Joyce Su apparently played a role in the cover/album artwork. See comment in her latest insta post.
https://instagram.com/joycesu?igshid=ojbrx5d1gi58
She’s great.
I just had a peak at her IG. From what she says the artwork was done by a team of people. Interesting.
It is interesting, and her art looks pretty cool to me. I’d note that everything except Lateralus was done by a team of people – 10,000 Days in particular has a number of artists in the packaging. Meats Meier, Alex Grey, Travis Shinn and Mackie Osbourne all come to mind.
Going through her IG, there’s a few posts in which the artwork is very similar to what we have here. Makes me anticipate the full packaging even more.
You’ve got to give the guys props for the way they are marketing this. Usually bands just drop their album info all at once, and the lead single is usually out several months before the album.
We’ve had several weeks now of breadcrumbs being dropped, starting with the logo, then the streaming annoucement, title and now artwork, and we still dont have a single.
Even after 13 long years, these guys are in no rush to reveal everything. Despite the anticipation they’ve remained true to their style. They really are the masters of leaving their fanbase wanting more.
Interesting discovery online: https://portofsoundrecords.com/products/fear-inoculum-cd-bundle
Disclaimer: I make no assertions as to the authenticity of this bundle
😳
If that’s legit then that is some serious packaging.
Just reading the comments on Alex Grays latest IG post. He’s confirmed several artists have contributed to the album and he’s one of them. He’s very forthcoming with his answers.
Just hit refresh on the toolmusic Instagram page for about the 100th time this month already, wishfully thinking they might post the links to where we can purchase & download their new single. It’s 11pm Tuesday night here so I feel like a kid on Xmas eve knowing that I’ll wake up with a new TOOL track to listen to on the way to work tomorrow… kinda giddy 🙂
It’s a spiral of eye balls… Without a doubt.