According to The Pulse Of Radio, an unidentified member of TOOL recently crashed his Vespa scooter on an icy road, suffering serious injuries and delaying work on the music for the band's long-awaited next album. The musician sustained several broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder in the crash, forcing the band to push back writing sessions for the band's follow-up to 2006's "10,000 Days".

The incident was described in detail in a post at the band's web site earlier this week, with the webmaster writing, "Because of the physical nature of the musical instrument involved, 9 DAYS of jamming were lost, although I'm happy to report that the person involved is recovering nicely, so much so, in fact, that writing sessions resumed last Monday (January 21), despite it being a holiday for many."

By coincidence, another person connected to the TOOL camp also had a Vespa accident a few days earlier, sustaining injuries to his head and multiple cuts and bruises to his body. The post hinted that it may have been someone related to the band's merchandising.

The band's webmaster concluded by writing, "I was hoping to be able to throw some of you a bone the first week of the New Year, but for certain reasons this announcement has been pushed back a month. Therefore, look for a news post that will be exciting to some towards the end of the first week in February."

TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan, meanwhile, and his side act PUSCIFER will release their new EP, "Donkey Punch The Night", on February 19, with some touring to follow.