TOOL Has 'Many Ideas Cooking' For Next Studio Album

During an appearance on "The Vinyl Guide" podcast, TOOL bassist Justin Chancellor was asked if he and his bandmates have begun writing material for the follow-up to their 2019 album "Fear Inoculum". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've got many ideas cooking. We haven't recorded anything yet. But we're quite busy until — I guess 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. We've already had a few pretty decent sessions of writing. So we've got the ingredients in place. We've just gotta really bang it out and spend that time when we're not touring."

Asked if there are any ideas that were recorded during songwriting sessions for previous albums that haven't been released yet, Justin said: "Yeah, tons from the last album. We have tons of ideas, but not recorded to the standard we'd put on an album. Just kind of, I'd say, lots of demoed stuff. And then just tons of ideas just kind of stored away."

This past weekend, TOOL headlined Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California and played the historic Power Trip festival in Indio, California.

TOOL is currently on the road, with a string of dates that include their first Canadian performances since 2019. STEEL BEANS opens on all of the remaining 2023 shows.

Quite possibly the era's most highly anticipated album, TOOL's latest LP, "Fear Inoculum", arrived in August of 2019. Debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200, the album earned heaps of critical praise with NPR saying, "'Fear Inoculum' was worth the 13-year wait," Revolver proclaiming the album "a masterpiece to be dissected for years to come" and Consequence saying the release finds "TOOL in peak performance."

Last year, TOOL released "Opiate2", a re-imagined and extended version of the 1992 EP's title track and an accompanying short film, marking the band's first new video in 15 years. The band also unveiled the first incarnation of "Fear Inoculum" vinyl, dubbed the Ultra Deluxe edition, the limited offering included five 180-gram vinyl discs emblazoned with a unique etching and accompanied by an elaborate pictorial booklet including never-before-seen artwork.

TOOL formed in 1990, releasing five studio albums: "Undertow" (1993),"Ænima" (1996),"Lateralus" (2001),"10,000 Days" (2006) and "Fear Inoculum" (2019); two EPs: "72826" (1991) and "Opiate" (1992),and the limited-edition boxset "Salival" (2000). The band has won four Grammy Awards: "Best Metal Performance" (1998, "Ænima"),"Best Metal Performance" (2002, "Schism"),"Best Recording Package" (2007, "10,000 Days") and "Best Metal Performance" (2020, "7empest").

TOOL is Danny Carey (drums),Justin Chancellor (bass),Adam Jones (guitar) and Maynard James Keenan (vocals).

Photo credit: Travis Shinn