Tool has not released an album in eight years and fans are getting increasingly impatient, after rumors that 2014 would see new material from the group. They have finally opened up about why it’s been so long since their last album.
Rolling Stone interviewed Tool on July 15 to find the cause behind the delay. It turns out that the primary reason that the band hasn’t released an album since 2006 is a legal one – more specifically, a string of lawsuits and countersuits.
Years ago, a friend of Tool guitarist Adam Jones claimed he had provided artwork for the band and wanted credit. The group’s insurance company sued them “over technicalities,” Tool countersued and the battle has continued up until this point. Drummer Danny Carey summarizes the band’s feelings about the ordeal:
The whole thing is really depressing. The bad thing is it’s really time consuming. As we’ve gotten older and our priorities have changed, it’s hard to get the band on a good, solid schedule as it is. People have kids now. And there’s lots of other things that pop up. To throw this into the mix, it makes everything that much worse and stresses people out.
The case will go to trial in January 2015, where the band hopes to win and put the issue behind them after nine long years of fighting the same battle. They have still found time to work on new music and tour with Failure, which they have described as “heavy” and “full of nose-bleeding riffs.” Tool intends to record something in the next few months, but Jones says,
I find it so hard to be creative when you have something awful nagging at you, just stuck between the hemispheres of your brain and affecting your sleep and your relationship with other band members. We have such a strong creative freedom in this band. It’s like we’ve been in a war. And it’s unnecessary. It’s just a shame.
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