Tool Have 'Many Ideas Cooking', Preparing To Hit The Studio And Record New Album

American influential progressive metallers Tool are preparing to work on their new album. The follow-up to 2019’s Fear Inoculum, which arrived 13 years after their 2006 LP 10,000 Days, a new album that doesn’t take a decade to be released is a real treat for Tool fans.

Appearing on the Vinyl Guide podcast on Monday (9 October), bassist Justin Chancellor teased that the band have “got many ideas cooking” for a new album.

“We haven’t recorded anything yet,” Chancellor shared, “But we’re quite busy until after the spring of next year touring. So once that’s done, we’re gonna get back in the studio and knuckle down and put some of it together.” 

The band won’t be just hitting the studio with nothing, though, as Tool have already put in “a few pretty decent sessions of writing. So, we’ve got all the ingredients in place. We’ve just got to really bang it out and spend that time when we’re not touring.”

Referencing the potential for previously unheard music to feature on the album, Chancellor continued, “Tons from the last album. We have tons of ideas. But not recorded to the standard that we’d put on an album. Just kind of, lots of demoed stuff. And just tons of ideas that are just stored away.”

Tool are currently booked to tour until 19 February 2024, so any studio time will be reserved after the touring stops. You can listen to Chancellor’s Vinyl Guide podcast episode here.

In March 2022, Tool released their first music video in 15 years, Opiate2, which the band released on Blu-Ray. 

Opiate2 is a re-imagined and extended version of Tool's 1992 single Opiate, with both the song and video marking the 30th anniversary of the EP of the same name’s release.

The Blu-Ray is housed in a 46-page art book with behind-the-scenes and making-of photos, and it also includes interviews and insights from special guests. Visual artist Dominic Hailstone (Alien: Covenant, The Eel) worked with Adam Jones on the 10-plus minute film. The clip continues Tool's knack for merging the aural and visual worlds, creating an all-encompassing experience for the listener that has been a hallmark of the outfit since their inception.