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TOOL - Lateralus
If you think that hard rock cannot have intelligence, artistic genius
and depth, you probably haven't explored the genre enough. And then you
definitely haven't heard Tool.
It's been a good couple of years since their ground breaking album Aenima,
filled with a shocking, amusing and tragically realistic world view wowed
the music industry. The instantly recognisable Tool
sound (from voice to guitar, bass to drums) stands out like a towering
force without the necessity to use volume in driving the message home.
Their subtle sweeping breaks have just as much impact as the build ups
and explosions of purity and intent. Suggestive and cruel, blatant and
kind, they've created a beast that is both loved and feared because of
its trend-free unpredictability and seriously pure take on the well-worn
rock genre. Splicing the human psyche, biological needs and depravation,
clinically formaldehide drenched affections for the alien, familiar and
absurd, we feel as though we're entering an altered state where David
Cronenberg would be very comfortable. There is an inexplicable attraction
towards the darkness inherent in the sound created by Tool
which encapsulates a vast expanse of expression, emotions and moods which
get relayed in a non-rushed fashion with great rewards at the end for
the listener as opposed to clocking in at a certain time with a well placed
hook, chourus and riff to ensure maximum air play. And the fact that they
entered the Billboard charts at number 1 doesn't make this a commercial
effort - in stead it marks a possible point where the public is waking
up to what genuinely good shit there is out there. Getting your hands
on an imported copy will bring a super-stylish package to the extremely
mood drenched experience which is Tool.
- PB
6 / A
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