You never know what to expect with these guys, but you know it's always going to be incredibly unique. Tool is releasing another album, and the first single, 'Vicarious', hit earlier this week. Tool has always been known for vicious riffs, primal drums and esoteric lyrics, but they're also known for waiting soul-numbing lengths of time between albums, leaving long-time fans with a sense of both excitement and apprehension for the new material. This time is no exception, as it has been roughly five years since their last ear-popping release, 'Lateralus.' With these thoughts in mind I sat down to listen to the aforementioned single with the aforementioned feelings of excitement and apprehension to get a sense of what the new album would be like.
From the opening riff, I knew it was Tool from the sound, but moreover the FEEL of it. It was dark and foreboding, heavy yet melodic, and my arm hair rose in anticipation of what promised to be a musical orgy of hard-edged auditory pleasure. The opening riff, for those of you already familiar with Tool, does have a distinct 'Schism' feel (check out Schism and other Tool songs wherever and whenever you can). This is how I knew, after countless breathless yet bogus downloads, that I'd finally nailed the real deal. After the opening melody transcended into heavy madness with pounding, rhythmic beats of intricate time and Maynard's voice roared into existence, I was hooked. The lyrical pattern follows a typical Tool song, which is to say atypical of any other songs. There are two short verses each which are punctuated at the end by quick vocal figures, a chorus that is sung three times but never sung the same way twice, and a rapid-fire stutter type of singing toward the end that is haunting and beautiful all at once. It is an incredible piece of lyricism as well, as the entire song focuses on our need as humans to 'vicariously' feed on suffering and tragedy to feel alive. The chorus, although it changes moderately the three times it is sung, keeps to the same line 'I need to watch things die.....from a (good, safe) distance. Vi-car-ious-ly I....live while the whole world dies.' The 'good, safe distance' is added the second and third times the chorus is sung. The changes at the end of the chorus are a Tool trademark as well, as their message progresses steadily throughout the song. We saw this example before in 'Schism' when he starts with 'I know the pieces fit...watched them fall away' and progresses to 'I know....cause I watched them tumble down....' The song 'Stinkfist' from their 1996 album Aenema is a better example. The verses end with the body parts of first 'knuckle' then 'finger' and finally 'elbow deeper in the borderline' showing the progression the protagonist of the song is experiencing. So it is found in the lyrics punctuating the subtlety different chorus each time within 'Vicarious.' The first chorus ends with '....you all need it, don't lie' The second version of the chorus ends with '....you all feel the same so...why don't we just admit it?' and the third time, speaking to the true survival instinct of the human spirit and as to WHY we love to live vicariously, Maynard sings '....much better you than I' This is the last line of the song, punctuating the overall point of the lyrics that human beings love to feast on tragedy, as long as they aren't personally experiencing it.
Wrapped around this lyrical montage is some of the most intense and impassioned music you will ever hear. The song begins melodically with a nice guitar riff punctuated by steady and dirty bass, with some light cymbals in the background that lull you in for the first 45 seconds, and then what seems to be a bell rings slightly, signifying school is in session. The music changes tone abruptly, assailing the senses with anger and frustration. After 20 seconds or so, Maynard rips in with his trademark 'arrrrrrrEYE on...' blending his roar with the first word, and begins to sing the first verse. The melody stays heavy but bass and drum driven, until the later part of the verse, when the guitar gets its heavier licks in. This measure is repeated for the second verse as well, and then the chorus hits. The first chorus is short and heavy, with the drums creating a tribal feel in the background. Then there is an amazing break where the drums go incredibly off beat and the guitar and bass do their own thing then into the chorus a second time. They end this off with a staccato-type rhythm getting into a fast-picking guitar solo, all the while with a dark-army marching drum feel as a backdrop. They come out of this into an even more pronounced staccato-type rhythm where Maynard is singing in time with the guitar, as the drums continue to entrance and enchant with rhythms and beats that astound. They then go back to a variation of the intro, with Maynard singing over top, and the drums playing double-time and increasing in intensity. As Maynard moans his line 'so it's always been' they play heavy into a musical break, where Maynard sings breathlessly with only the guitar playing 'We all feed...on tragedy...It's like blood to a vampire' then all hell breaks loose. The chorus is sung a third time with the double-bass drums machine-gunning rolling thunder in the background, as the guitar and bass rip the sound scape to shreds with their metal teeth. Then the chorus leads into an outro that once again resembles 'Schism', but with even more mettle. The outro is as heavy as anything I've ever heard Tool play, and it gave me great expectations for the remainder of the album. Danny Carey is back as lord of percussion, dominating the sound scape with double-bass, boggling tom rolls and cymbal work that at always sounds as if an entire orchestra is at play. The guitar is heavier than ever, as Adam Jones has decided to rip all his emotion out and pour it into his strings. I expect big things from Adam on this album. The bass is, as always, a perfect compliment to the package and Justin Chancellor plays his haunting and dark chords in transcendent timings. Maynard is his usual, range-exploring, boundary-breaking self, showing his ability to sing in all ways and forms during this song. His work over the years with A Perfect Circle have really rounded him out as a vocalist, and now he exhibits near-perfection in every note he sings.
Coming in at just over 7 minutes, this song isn't likely to be a radio darling, but it will definitely get play on the stations that love and respect Tool and their ability to write and perform some of the most unique, emotional, and resounding music of our time. This first song is incredible, and if it is any indication of the new album, we could be looking at their best work to date. Not many bands can make an album every five years and have people stay loyal, stay hungry. You have to be distinctive and permeable. Tool is extraordinary enough to pull it off, incredible enough to make a transcendent album and then improve upon it the next go around. It looks as if they will do it again. The album is 10,000 Days. The single is 'Vicarious.' I can only sit and wait and hope that the rest of the album is as good as this song. If so, it will have once again made the lengthy wait between albums worth it.

Sir Smittius

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