TOOL Settles Legal Issues, Resumes Work On New Music

TOOL has settled the "multi-level lawsuit" that started in 2007 when a friend of the band claimed that he had created artwork for the group and wanted credit for it. Then an insurance company that TOOL had hired for the sole purpose of defending the band against lawsuits turned around and sued the band over technicalities regarding the case. The band countersued the insurer, with the case finally being resolved in their favor after seven years.

"It got really ugly and shameful," TOOL guitarist Adam Jones told Yahoo! Music. "This is a real simplification of the matter — but imagine paying auto insurance, getting into a wreck, and expecting the insurance company to cover you. And they come back to you and say, 'Well, you drive an SUV and we don't consider that an auto so we're not going to cover you.' And then they turn around and sue you because you want them to cover you. It's crazy."

Jones also revealed that one of his bandmates was forced to deal with a medical issue, which further impeded TOOL's progress in crafting material for a new studio album,

"I'd rather let the person who dealt with the illness talk about it out of respect," Jones told Yahoo! Music. "But one thing was a really scary do-or-die, serious illness and that was really scary. When you're trying to write music and you have that eating away at you — this person you're married to and you love and hate at the same time has something they're dealing with that's out of their control — it's distracting."

According to Adam, the instrumental members of TOOL — Jones, bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey — have finished writing one as-yet-untitled song for the band's upcoming album, with more than 10 other tracks in various stages of completion.

"Our greatest strength is jamming and coming up with stuff," Jones said. “We're doing that really well now and I'm excited about everything we're working on. Some of it's really heavy, some of it's complex and some is more atmospheric, but it's definitely TOOL. I think having this lawsuit out of the way should really speed of the progress of getting the album done."

Although Jones hopes the next TOOL album will be finished and ready for release before the end of the year, there is no deadline by which the band has to deliver the follow-up to 2006's "10,000 Days".

"We're older guys now," he told Yahoo! Music. "Everyone kind of has their own life, and the fire that burned in us when we were in our 20s isn't there anymore. There's still a fire, it's just a different kind of fire. So of course, we're writing and working hard, but we've gotten to a point where we're relaxed and we're meeting occasionally to get the writing done instead of every day. But I feel like every day we work on the songs is a productive day and we're getting closer and closer to finishing them."

Read the entire interview at Yahoo! Music.