FEAR INOCULUM

The wait and expectation around this album was the subject of many a meme across the years. Many were skeptical it would happen at all. Others, like me, were eager for the first few years, then essentially forgot and prepared for the worse as live snippets came out from here and there and promised a rehash of everything they did before.

When the single came out I knew, and listening to the rest just confirmed my suspicion. Tool were either unable or unwilling to thread new territory, it's the same old riffs, the same old modes, the same old rhythms, the same old effects. Just mind blowingly boring and uninspired.

Each song sounds like the last and it's difficult to tell them apart. The only reason I know I'm not listening to Lateralus or 10 000 Days is because, despite the strikingly similar tropes, these versions of them are so incredibly cookie cutter and uninspired, that I might as well be listening to a crappy tribute band or copycat.

This album is staler than a 1 year old piece of bread. If there's an argument to be settled about come backs and bands outlasting their artistry, this is it.

I've listened to it twice, and man it's long (due to needless repetition), and I wish I could get that time of my life back. I haven't really disliked an album so much in a long time. Just because it sounds familiar does not make it good. And this, while familiar, it's for the wrong reasons. And it isn't good. In fact it's so bad it hurts. For a musical snob, this was the epitome of cringe.

Maybe this album is like a wine that needs to get old before being properly appreciated - so I won't promise to change my opinion eventually. My cynical impression for now is that instead it will go straight to vinegar.