After years of delays, Tool is about to finish recording their latest album. Find out what the band had to say about their newest work.

It’s been eight long years, but Tool fans might finally have an album in-hand soon. The band’s webmaster says their latest album is coming together.

According to the band’s website, Tool “have been progressing rather nicely” on their newest album in the studio. While the band is careful not to say that the album is 100 percent complete yet, this is promising news for those who have waited nearly a decade for the release.

The reason fans have waited so long for the record can mainly be boiled down to legal troubles. According to reports, the band did not have in-fighting or internal drama, but issues surrounding a copyright. Doesn’t seem rock and roll, does it? The band faced a lawsuit over artwork one of the band’s friends had provided for an older release. After a long legal dispute, Tool member Danny Carey said he just wasn’t feeling the creative tug anymore to work on the next record.

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.

Now that the newest record is finally underway, fans might even expect an extra special surprise. A statement from the band’s website reads:

Good friend and King Crimson percussionist Pat Mastelotto stopped by the Tool Loft the other day to listen to the guys working on new material. Since the recent sound-proofing renovation, I’m told that the writing/arranging sessions have been progressing rather nicely (welcome news for those waiting for a new record.) As for Pat and the new King Crimson configuration (with 3 amazing and inspiring drummers!), the L.A. shows were nothing less than a mind-boggling sonic experience (as prog rock as prog rock can be!).

This isn’t the first time the band has dropped hints about the latest record this year.

Tool guitarist Adam Jones made headlines this spring when he announced to Twitter and a crowd in Portland that the Tool album was 100 percent complete. Needless to say, this made a lot of people pretty ecstatic. The only problem was, it wasn’t true.

Jones clarified his statements, saying that he intended it to be a joke. While the band was hard at work on their latest release, it was by no means done.

Now, with this new announcement via the band’s official website, fans might start to get excited again. As it is the first new release from Tool in eight years, we can’t be sure yet what to expect from the progressive metal group.