I mean I’m not gonna lie, as I’ve been listening to the entire catalog for a week straight -
Undertow and AEnima sound really dated. They are undeniably works of the early to mid-90’s.
Lateralus could almost pass for a contemporary album, but not quite.
10,000 Days is still mediocre in comparison to the rest.
So, I mean, “dad rock” is entirely apt. Funny enough, one of the other new tracks from the album - “Invincible” - seems to concern itself in part with the struggle to stay relevant as you age. Incredibly self-aware and self-critical, as is the Tool tradition.
What’s funny is that after posting that I found an interview with Maynard where he says that it’s exactly a dad rock album on purpose lol.
"That has to do with getting older, too. Things like, ‘I’m gonna wear socks with sandals. I don’t give a fuck what people think. I’m just gonna be comfortable.’ [Laughs] So it’s about the little things in life. It’s making those choices that are important to you and moving on and growing.
“There’s a little bit of Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ in that, so I’m into it. I’m so excited, for this new record. The songs are very long, but they’re like movements. It’s like two or three songs in one, but they relate. They flow. So I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. But I’m ecstatic.”
I’m loving this. It’s like a leaner more focused version of pre Let Yourself Be Huge era stuff. Love the more electronic aspects he added to the mix too.
So fun backstory for this band. Battle Beast’s first two albums had some pretty explicit Berserk references (which you should absolutely read) before taking a big swing into different material. Turns out one of the band members left for “creative differences” and just made his own band where he can nerd out to his heart’s content.
I mean, there is a similarity there, but also it’s definitely different. At least as different as any other two metal bands in the same general subgenre area.
