Tool is finally preparing to release a new album, Fear Inoculum, after over a decade at the end of the month, but the band has now shared the first taste of the upcoming LP via its over ten minute long title track.
As the song's instrumentation grows throughout the "Fear Inoculum," Tool lead vocalist Maynard James Keenan sings lyrics like, "Immunity/ Long overdue/ Contagion/ I exhale you/ Lying/ I opened up to you/ Venom in mania" and "But I hear them now inhale the clarity/ Hear the venom, the venom in/ What you say inoculated."
Fear Inoculum is Tool's fifth full-length studio album and their first in 13 years — since 2006's 10,000 Days. According to the pre-order, the album will showcase ten new songs and back in May, Tool debuted two of the album's songs, "Descending" and "Invincible," live during their performance at the Welcome to Rockville Festival. Fans can get their hands on the full album on August 30th.
In a new interview with Revolver, of which they are the cover story, the band opened up about Fear Inoculum. The guys mention themes of aging and evolution, conquering fears, and growing, however, Keenan says that what the album is about is really up to interpretation of anyone who listens. He explained, "I feel like that's always an individual's right to process things in the way they wanna process them, and I wouldn't wanna take that from you. So if anything is a broad stroke of this album, it would be embracing where we are right now, acknowledging where we've come from and some of the things we've gone through."
Keenan also recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience last week where, in addition to discussing a number of topics, he revealed Tool's new album title, which he described as a relief to get out into the world. He explained, "A lot of weight lifted off my chest. The four of us are a lot of f***ing work. Everything is a f***ing committee meeting, and it always gets shut down." You can listen to the full episode on iHeartRadio.