by Brandon Carson Fear Inoculum just might be the most anticipated album release of all time. The alternative metal masters, Tool, have not only returned to the music scene but entered the streaming era for the first time. Fans of the band have been waiting 13 years for a new release (about the length of Taylor Swift’s entire career) and have finally been given a 90-minute epic consisting of seven tracks and three interludes. But the question remains: Is Fear Inoculum worth the 13-year wait? The answer is: It’s complicated. Tool’s discography is massive and very complex. In their early days, the band took progressive metal and redefined it. Tool took psychedelic components and mixed them with heavy, progressive riffs and catchy, unorthodox hooks. Songs like, “Schism,” “Sober,” and “Forty Six & 2” took the metal scene by storm and even had an influence on non-metal listeners. The problem is that, with albums like theirs, it takes time to fully grasp the ideas that are present. Their entire catalog has aged to perfection, Ænima (1996) and Lateralus (2001) being the most significant of the original four releases. Fear Inoculum should receive the same treatment and reviewing it feels like a monstrous task. So, to answer my question from before: yes, Fear Inoculum is very much worth the 13-year wait. However, it is not the best Tool album by any means. Some of the passages within the seven tracks are engaging and the best in their discography, but the album as a whole fails to capture the same quality of the Tool of old.
Worth the wait
Odd choices and boring passages
Fear Inoculum Top Tracks: Recommended if you like:Loudwire
