With the first Tool album in 13 years, Justin Chancellor discusses the writing process, his signature tone & his band’s many odd time signatures
Thirteen years is a long time — maybe not in the bigger picture of human existence or from an existential standpoint, but for a gap in a widely influential band’s album-release schedule, it’s sizeable. For a little perspective on the matter, back when Tool released its previous album, 10,000 Days, George W. Bush was still president, Twitter had yet to exist, and current pop sensation Billie Eilish was only five years old. A studio hiatus of that length would mean certain career-suicide for most bands, but Tool is not most bands. In fact, during that wait as the months and years went by, Tool’s rabid fan base only became more fixated and interested in the group’s happenings. Speculation turned into rumors, rumors into viral headlines, viral headlines into false leads, false leads into dead ends, and back to the beginning of the spiral cycle. But suddenly, the frenzy broke, and on August 30, 2019, it happened. Tool released its fifth studio album, Fear Inoculum.
Boasting ten t