Good news for Tool fans: a lengthy, “epic” new piece of music is being prepared for frontman Maynard James Keenan to add his vocals to.

Tool has been hinting about a fifth album since 2011. Last week a post on Tool’s official site provided fans with an actual update regarding some new music from the band. The last material we heard from Maynard and co. came in 2006 with their album 10,000 Days. That’s a long time to keep the fans waiting! But, the update gave some promising information:

As for the song itself, without giving too much away, it features complex time signatures, interesting harmonic structure and expanding effects processing – similar to what fans of Tool have come to expect – only now, perhaps not surprisingly, the band has taken it to the next level.

Great news, but don’t get too excited just yet. True to the band’s songwriting format, Maynard still needs to put his mark on the track, which he never does until the instrumental portion is complete. Both he and drummer Danny Carey have confirmed that there will be no new material released this year, but 2014 is looking like a definite possibility.