Any dodgy writing is by him, not me. (For a change)

author: Tamas Jones


The first thing that must be said about Aenima is that it's been a long
time since I've heard such a mind boggingly powerful musical statement. 
With virtuosity and imagination, Tool have settled into a style of music
that is dark, angry, relentless and as frighteningly compelling as music
can get.  Tracks such as Hooker With A Penis and the title track show that
this band can rock in a manner that becomes such a direct and precise
expression of white hot rage that just listening to it is enough to give
you an adrenalin rush. If this doesn't sound like your cup of tea I could
understand; I'm generally put off by heavy and dark music because it gets
bogged down by stylistic cliches (such as the growling style of vocal
delivery popular amongst a lot of death metal bands) which I find either
sound just plain silly or else become a mockery of the expression of an
emotion as powerful as anger is. 

The music of Tool is sufficiently anchored in melody and catchy,
riff-making to be attractive to more than just your average heavy music
lover. It is rhythmically as dynamic as music of this style can get (just
check out Forty Sic and Two, (sic) the chord prgression of which builds
over a drum solo to an amazing crescendo) and is peppered by quirky tracks
such as (*)Ions (sic) and Intermission which are interesting explorations
into other sounds and textures which give the album an overall dynamic
quality.  The band has used every trick within their means (including some
great production work) to ensure that this album is of the purest
expression. By doing so with an alarming passion, Aenima is an album that
stops nothing short of the sublime.