It's amazing really: Tool have been around since 1990, but in the almost thirty years since then have only released five studio albums. The patience of loyal Tool fans has been severely tested for no less than 13 years since
their last album. Equally amazing is that I could actually repeat the review of that previous album almost unchanged. The typical Tool sound has hardly changed since
Lateralus.
If you didn't know anything about it, you could easily think that the songs of Lateralus, 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum are from the same recording sessions. There's not much new to hear here: some songs and riffs even seem to repeat themes from previous albums. However, the songs on this album are much less varied in structure and structure than on Lateralus. Repetition plays a much bigger role on Fear Inoculum than on previous albums. The monotony becomes even more obvious when you pay attention to the key. Of the 31 songs on their last three albums, no less than 15 are in the same key, d minor. (On this CD tracks 2, 3, 4 and 7.) It has to be said that Tool compensates for this simplicity with their rhythms and richness of sound. And the rhythms in particular are perhaps tighter on this CD than ever before - with the song Invincible as the undisputed highlight. (TC)more