TOOL, Fear Inoculum | Album Review 💿

After a 13-year hiatus, alternative metal collective TOOL returns with their highly anticipated, well-rounded, fifth LP, Fear Inoculum.  

It has been 13 years since Grammy-winning metal collective TOOL released a new album (10,000 Days, 2006).  Maynard James Keenan remained active during the group’s extended hiatus, dropping three projects as Puscifer and another with A Perfect Circle (Eat the Elephant, 2018). 2019 has been the year for the band. First, they FINALLY released their discography digitally to streaming services.  Even more notably, after much buzz and speculation, the band’s fifth studio album, the 90-minute-long Fear Inoculum, arrived August 30, 2019, and debuted robustly at number one on the Billboard 200. 

According to Keenan via Revolver, “[Fear Inoculum] is [about] wisdom through age, through experience. Hopefully through aging you find wisdom in some of the things you’ve encountered. Learning from your mistakes, learning from your successes.” Like many of the records on 10,000 Days, the records on Fear Inoculum also run long, many darting past ten minutes in duration.

“Fear Inoculum”

Nine words: “Exhale, expel / Recast my tale / Weave my allegorical elegy.” ✓ “Fear Inoculum” fittingly commences Fear Inoculum.  “Immunity, long overdue / Contagion, I exhale you…” As prefaced above, “Fear Inoculum” clocks in north of 10 minutes. Even with its long duration, there aren’t a ton of lyrics, and the form is relatively standard: verse, interlude, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, and outro.  The extended instrumental introduction is enigmatic, constantly building with percussion, sound effects, and distorted guitars.  Keenan doesn’t begin singing the first verse until after the two-minute mark, showcasing the sheer beauty of his voice.  As he sings, he plays into the hypnotic and intense nature of the music, with its looped passages, pummeling drums, and of course, a minor key.  

With the arrival of the aforementioned nine-word chorus (four minutes in), things grow heavier, including Keenan exhibiting more edge and grit vocally.  Post-chorus, the percussion and sound effects stand out, before Keenan drops another legato-style verse with unique lyrics: 

“Enumerate all that I’m to do  
Calculating steps away from you 
My own mitosis 
Growing through delusion from mania.” 

Following another edgy chorus, the listener is blessed with that signature TOOL experimentation with meter and rhythm.  It keeps things, specifically the bridge, interesting. Some keywords that reappear throughout “Fear Inoculum” include exorcise, venom, immunity, mania, exhale, and deceiver.

“Pneuma”

“Wake up, remember / We are born of one breath, one word / We are all one spark, sun becoming…” Like the title track, TOOL is in no rush on ✓ “Pneuma,” which arrives just shy of 12 minutes. Despite being a slowly-evolving record, “Pneuma” is characterized by ample rhythm, metric shifts, and that ‘vibe’ that only TOOL could ultimately construct. While it’s clean and light at certain times, there are plenty of moments where the guitars dig in, and the drums totally pummel.  And if you were curious what a pneuma is, it’s soul; spirit. The spiritual references of the lyrics truly stand out. It’s a great follow-up to “Fear Inoculum.” A mysterious, instrumental interlude, “Litanie contre la Peur” follows.  

“Beating chest and drums / Beating tired bones again /Age-old battle, mine / Weapon out and belly in…” ✓ “Invincible,” another standout, runs nearly 13 minutes, sadly only good for the third longest record on Fear Inoculum (only “7emptest” and “Descending” are longer). The usual tricks are in play, including mixed meter, potent rhythmic grooves, and the liberal use of space – letting things be static at times, and again, slowly evolving.  Thematically, age and relevance seem to be the M.O. One of the best allusions is historical:  

“Tears in my eyes 
Chasing Ponce de Leon's phantoms 
So filled with hope 
I can taste mythical fountains.” 

Much like “Litanie contre la Peur” post-“Pneuma,” The mostly instrumental “Legion Inoculant” follows “Invincible” featuring one key lyric: “Bless this immunity.” Again, the music is enigmatic and quite mystical, while the performance of the aforementioned lyrics matches the unsettling, ‘amiss’ sound.  

“Descending” 

As previously mentioned, ✓ “Descending” earns the honors as the second-longest record on Fear Inoculum, approaching 14 minutes. The good news is there’s plenty to ‘salivate’ over the course of the song.  One of the most exciting sections is the bridge section, which features incredibly assertive vocals from Keenan, as well as some aggressive guitar work.  Other notes from this juggernaut include the tried and true metric shifts, with some alternation between measures of five and measures of six beats per measure, and a thrilling guitar solo.  Of course, the minimalist spirit at times goes a long way as well.   

“Culling Voices” reins in the length some, though still gives listeners a solid ten minutes of song. Like previous songs, TOOL is in no rush, taking time to set things up. Still, Maynard James Kennan begins singing one-minute-and-a-half in, showing off his clear, gorgeous tone.  Following a restrained start, “Culling Voices” eventually picks up steam, triggered by the reiterated lyrics, “Don’t you dare point that at me.” Complementing the lyrics are fully charged guitars which sound hellish to the nth degree.  Following “Culling Voices” is the longest instrumental yet, “Chocolate Chip Trip,” which is nearly five minutes long in its own right.  The synths and programming on “Chocolate Chip Trip” are quite cool.  Additionally, the drum solo (of sorts), with those tom runs is quite badass.  

“7empest” 

“Blame it all on the bastards when you’re blowing out / Shame on you, shame on you now /No amount of wind could begin to cover up /Your petulant stench and demeanor…” In addition to the aforementioned compelling lyrics (verse two), some pretty sweet minimalism commences “7empest,” the penultimate record on Fear Inoculum and final ‘full-fledged’ record essentially. “7empest” runs nearly 16 minutes long… Yep.  

When it comes to popular music, even the more progressive, experimental side, listeners aren’t accustomed to such ambitious durations, particularly nearly every track.  It’s commonplace in classical music and jazz, but not nearly as common even in rock/metal.  As they have in the past, TOOL continues to pull it off throughout Fear Inoculum.  “7empest” is a lot to digest, but once again, there’s plenty to totally go ‘gaga’ over on this ambitious number.  

The 10th and final track is “Mockingbeat,” another instrumental. Notably, it is half the length of “Chocolate Chip Trip,” arguably the instrumental to beat. Overall, the instrumentals that appear on Fear Inoculum are quite interesting on, but they are ultimately trumped by the vocal tracks.   

Final Thoughts

While the world was forced to wait 13 years for a new TOOL album, Fear Inoculum was definitely ‘worth the wait.’ Sure, a 90-minute album is a lot to ask of any listener, particularly in one setting, but the results are favorable, period. Perhaps skeptics may question if the instrumentals were necessary or crucial to the success of the overall album, but beyond that, Fear Inoculum is pretty epic. “Fear Inoculum,” “Pneuma,” “Invincible,” and “Descending” would be my picks for the crème de la crème, but there are no missteps by Keenan and company whatsoever.

✓ Gems: “Fear Inoculum,” “Pneuma,” “Invincible” & “Descending”  

TOOL • Fear Inoculum • Tool Dissectional, L.L.C. / Volcano Entertainment II, L.L.C.  • Release: 8.30.19 

Photo Credits: Tool Dissectional, L.L.C. / Volcano Entertainment II, L.L.C.