Publication: The Record Exchange Music Monitor
Date: Fall 1996
Written by Marty Cassady (martyc@bev.net)
Here is my review of "Aenima" (which I wrote for a publication the chain of record stores I work for puts out.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It's not often that I get introduced to a new band by MTV, but I must admit that's how I first caught on, a couple of years ago, to the L.A. heavy-rock quartet Tool. The striking, unsettling video clips for "Sober" and "Prison Sex", the two singles from the second Tool release, "Undertow", were quite unlike anything else on the tube then or now (even if they did rather shamelessly lift the style and atmosphere of the underground animation team The Brothers Quay.) Only then did "Undertow" make its way to my CD player, eventually to become one of my favorite albums in recent memory. It's with not small anticipation, then, that I've awaited the release of "Aenima", the third Tool record. It's not really fair to call Tool simply "heavy rock" or "hard rock", and certainly not "metal", as the territory staked out by "Undertow" and "Aenima" falls within a realm as closely bordered by Joy Division and the Birthday Party as by Led Zep and Black Sabbath. Tool's is a meaty, bottom-heavy sound, driven not by endless riffing but by precise musicianship, detailed interplay between guitar, bass and drums, deft dynamic shifts and clever, almost diabolical use of sampled sounds. Over the top of all this slithers the serpentine presence of vocalist Maynard James Keenan, an enigmatic individual whose irrepressibly dark vision has made him into something of a cult figure, surrounded by a mystique that includes urban-legend style (and unfounded) rumors of corpses hidden in basements and flirtations with the black arts. Keenan's lyrics to "Undertow" spoke of the unspeakable in largely metaphoric terms, focusing most of his anger inward; on "Aenima" he lashes out, pointing a spew of bile and vitriol at his unfortunate targets. "Aenima" is intense, challenging music, not for the faint of heart or the easily offended, or for the casual listener looking for easy hooks and simple grooves. Nevertheless, it's brilliant on its own terms, and rewarding to those willing to take a scary ride. Of the 15 tracks on "Aenima", 9 are actual "songs" (most longer than those on "Undertow", ranging from 5 to 10-plus minutes), and the rest "sound collages", if you will, consisting of a variety of found voices, weird noises and odd instrumentations, used for transition throughout the album. The opening track is "Stinkfist", an adrenalin rush of a song that begins quietly, almost surreptitiously, with Keenan's voice filtered through an "underwater" effect, then looses a raging torrent of power chords and thunderous drums. The tone of the album is set early, as what will follow are complex, convoluted songs with lengthy instrumental breaks and a variety of vocal treatments; careening vehicles steered by new bassist Justin Chancellor's slippery work. Hushed, chiaroscuro passages build almost unbearable tension, with sledgehammer choruses providing release. "Stinkfist" is followed by "Eulogy", which may or may not be a paean to deceased comedian Bill Hicks (who is immortalized by a rather twisted painting on the album's inner sleeve, and whose voice is sampled later on.) Soon we arrive at the first of the sound collages, some of which seem to deliberately antagonize the listener; they range from "Useful Idiot", which is simply the sound of a phonograph needle stuck in the center groove, to "Message To Harry Manback", a voice-mail message laden with threats of violence and death set over a melancholy piano track. The "real songs" return, and Keenan's fury lets fly on "Hooker With A Penis", a song you will not be hearing on the radio anytime soon; "Pushit", whose double-entendre refrain has much the same effect; and the incendiary title track, a fierce litany of indignation, a profane denunciation of sloth, hypocrisy and falsehood. "Aenima" closes with "Third Eye", an extended piece that begins as something of a sequel to "Disgustipated", the seemingly interminable angst-fest that suffixed "Undertow", and eventually becomes a song, the band summoning up a reprisal cannonade that ends in the aforementioned Bill Hicks sample and a final volley of Maynard's tortured screams. The listener sits in silence, drained, beaten into submission. I like this record a lot. (Can you tell?) "Aenima" is the work of a cutting-edge band in absolute control of its art. It seems to have been made with little regard for commercial appeal or marketability, as there are no obvious radio tracks; most of the album's themes and lyrical content are shadowy if not outright disturbing, and the music itself is considerably more "difficult" that 99% of what one will hear in the mainstream nowadays. All this may scare some people away, but serious music fans should find it all the more appealing. Tool's "Aenima" is intelligent, original and uncompromising, and rocks really hard. You can scarcely ask for more. (Copyright 1996 by Marty Cassady. May redistribute freely in cyberspace if not altered.)