Fear Inoculum is the fifth studio album by progressive rock band Tool. This is their first release after 13 years of silence from the band since their 2006 album 10,000 Days. Fans have been patiently waiting for the arrival of the new album. The band finally released on Jul. 29 their album artwork and that their new album will be released Aug. 30. Tool is known for their crazy artwork and videography so Tool fans were very excited for the announcement. Tool’s live show is an art piece of videos on large screens playing videos to the songs with no spotlight on any members. Singer Maynard James Keenan even stands in the back of the stage for most of the show hardly being seen. Unlike Tool songs “Sober” or “Crawl Away” which are both some of their shorter songs at six minutes, every song on Fear Inoculum is 10 minutes or over. Drummer Danny Carey wanted the album to be “one giant song.” 

 The 85 minute album opens with the self titled track “Fear Inoculum,” a 10 minute which no one can really figure out what this song’s message is. It spends many genres and styles in only 10 minutes which is very impressive and never leaves you bored. Many of these songs showcase Carey’s playing, from an African and South American style to regular metal drumming. The combination of Carey and guitarist Adam Jones compliment each other which is showcased on the song “Invincible.” The album keeps you on your toes. You can have an idea for how a song on this album will go and the band takes you the complete opposite direction which makes this band intriguing.  The song “Descending” was the only song to be a drag. It didn’t have as much structure as the others and wasn’t as interesting as the songs before it. “Calling Voices” is a classic Tool song to satisfy old fans. It was one of those songs to make you say “they’re back.” If someone said it was from their 1996 album Ænima, it would be believable. One of the instrumentals “Chocolate Chip Trip” was definitely the trippiest of them all. It sounded like what you would hear in a sci-fi horror movie. “7empest” is probably the best song on the album. It has Jones’ best guitar work and amazing vocals by Keenan. Bassist Justin Chancellor had great bass parts on this track. The song has a deeper meaning with the number 7 to musicians. It’s one of those things that you have to be in the in crowd to understand. 

  The Tool album was definitely worth the wait. Every fan has expressed how happy they are with the turn out of this album. It was an amazing 85 minute long journey and rock and metal fans should definitely give this album a listen. The album just as of Sept. 8 made No. 1 on the Billboard 200 beating Taylor Swift. 

You can listen to the album on every streaming service and catch Tool in tour this fall.