Tool Vocalist Maynard James Keenan has released an update regarding the band’s upcoming fifth studio album. According to a post on Twitter, he has been in the process of recording his vocal tracks, with some tracks being set to go through the mixing and mastering process.
While the upcoming album does not have a title yet, it is expected to be released in 2019 according to the PRP. Joe Barresi who has produced acts such as Chevelle and Queens of The Stone Age, will also be producing this album.
This release will be the band’s first studio album in over twelve years, since the release of 10,000 Days in 2006. While the band has been intermittently touring since at least 2008, their drummer Danny Carey explained in 2014 that family commitments and a lawsuit were some issues that prevented them from releasing more music earlier.
“The point is, we’re fighting the good fight … We’re going to trial and we want to crush them [an insurance company],” Carey explained in an interview with Rolling Stone. “But every time we’ve gotten close to going to trial, it gets postponed and we’ve wasted money and time and it has just drained our creative energy. We bought an insurance policy for peace of mind, but instead we would have been better off if we never had it and just dealt with the original lawsuit.”
In April the band debuted a new track entitled “Descending,” as a promotional song for their Music Clinic Tour. Clocking in at three minutes, the track is likely only a small sample of a larger piece that may appear on the upcoming album.
This May the band went on a short six date stint across Middle-America as part of their Music Clinic tour. These set of shows were interactive, as they let fans ask questions during a few open discussions regarding the band’s writing process (albeit, without Keenan.)
Around this time Keenan also elaborated a bit on the long period between albums comparing this release to the ill-fated Guns N Roses album Chinese Democracy, which has the honor of being one of Complex’s biggest rock fails of all time.
“I had this other looming project [Tool] that can’t seem to go forward, as much as I’ve tried, every magic word in the book that I tried,” Keenan explained to the PRP. “It’s just no different – and worse because there’s pressure now, and what are we? ‘Chinese Democracy II‘ or III? So I saw a window [to work on A Perfect Circle.]”
While this album shares similarities in regard to the length of time between albums, with Chinese Democracy taking over 15 years to make, the band has the benefit of having its entire original line-up. It also helps that their front-man is not quite as controversial as Axl Rose.
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