There is a huge update on the new tool album. After comments from bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey last month, guitarist Adam Jones had become the latest member of the legendary Prog Metal band to confirm that the band are, in fact, working on getting a new album out.
Jones confirmed the rumors during a recent meet-and-greet event held in Salt Lake City. He reportedly told the audience that drummer Danny Carey and bassist Justin Chancellor were, at the moment, working three days a week on the new album. Jones even told the fans that the band had in fact already recorded two albums worth of material, hence hinting that the band’s new album would be a double album. Jones then reportedly played a riff from one of the new songs to the fans.
However, Jones was quick to point out that out of those two albums worth of materials, only five songs “meet their Tool standard.” Jones also pointed out that front-man, singer, and the primary songwriter of the band, Maynard James Keenan was yet to write any of the lyrics, pointing out that he usually waits until 90 percent of the instrumentals are written before he starts writing the songs. So, unless he’s messing with us, Jones just confirmed that a new album, albeit on its way, is still quite a long way off.
Fans have waited for a new Tool album for more than 10 years now. Since the release of 2006’s critically acclaimed 10,000 Days , the band that rocked the progressive metal scene of the ’90s has been relatively quiet. The band members, one would think, had almost retired, with their families, kids, and the wine-making. But rumors of a new Tool album started flowing around earlier this year. A new double album was said to be in the making, with a release date set for the fall of this year. Although Maynard initially refuted these claims, calling it “dumb,” bassist Justin Chancellor later confirmed these rumors, saying that a new Tool album was in fact in the making. Drummer Danny Carey followed Justin’s lead, confirming the new album during his first TV appearance in the show Late Night with Seth Meyers . Danny played with the show’s band and at one point host Seth Meyers spoke of a new tool album “coming sometime soon.” And now, with Adam confirming the new album, all four members have had their say on the rumors.
Rumors of a new Tool double album have been circulating around ever since a fan posted on Reddit in July, claiming that Tool would be releasing a new 2.5-hour double album titled Decem this fall, before embarking on a big national tour. The fan even posted the track list of the new album, which included “Descending,” a song partially performed during one of the band’s recent tours.
It has been 10 years since the release of Tool’s latest album 10,000 Days . Tool fans have been desperately awaiting a fifth album ever since. Therefore, it was only natural for Tool fans, even the most cynical ones, to get excited as the rumors of a new double album appeared last week. But frontman Maynard James Keenen had shrewdly laid these rumors to rest with a tweet calling the rumors “dumb.” But despite Maynard’s tweet, some fans still seemed very optimistic. They pointed out how Tool liked to mess around with the fans regarding the release of an album. And indeed, the band has done that in the past, one example being that time they posted fake track listings before the release of Lateralus in 2001. It’s safe to say that recent revelations from Justin Chancellor, Danny Carey, and Adam Jones have made a lot of fans very happy.
It had widely been speculated that the delay in the release of Tool’s fifth album was the result of frontman Maynard James Keenan’s frustration and indifference with the band’s followers. But in 2014, in an interview with Rolling Stone , Danny Carey and Adam Jones revealed that the actual cause of the delay was family commitments and an ongoing lawsuit. After the lawsuit was settled in favor of the band in 2015, Jones revealed that the band was now turning their focus to recording a new album, adding that he hoped it would be released by the end of 2015. Well, it’s past mid-2016 now and Tool fans across the globe are hoping that the rumors of the double album are actually true.
Tool played the Aftershock festival earlier this month, where they also played the rumored new song, “Decem.” You can check it out, along with the entire set below.
[Featured Image by Felix Marquez/AP Images]