FEAR INOCULUM

'Fear Incolum' is the fifth Tool album, it comes 13 years after the previous one. The least we can say is that expectations were high regarding this long-awaited album. Despite all the excitement surrounding its issue, the only thing I hear is that Tool prove us that they are still Tool. This album can indeed be considered as "just another Tool album" in a career spanning already one generation, yet only a poor harvest (a mean of 1 album every 4 years). There is nothing, really nothing new under the sun. When you see that the majority of songs is 10 mn+ long, you expect great developments. Instead, you hear over and over Bozzio-esque drumming (circa The Lonely Bears sessions), at least during the first four songs, the overall impression being that the same song is repeated over and over (the "Holy Quaternity of Repetition"). The exceptions to this "Holy Quaternity of Repetition" are the 3 songs that follow them, namely the half-reflective "Culling Voices" (which nonetheless segues in the second half into that repeated drum-driven pattern of the first four songs), the annoying instrumental jam "Chocolate Chip trip" (that sounds really out of place on this album), and the angry closer, a sort of melting pot mixing the rage of their earlier alternative metal debuts, and the psychedelic/math developments of their later career. This album is good overall, but this is absolutely not essential in their discography. There is very little to be surprised with when you've already heard their other records.