A couple of weeks ago I visited the Tool loft to try and get some kind of idea as to how things were progressing with the writing sessions now that the band was back hard at it. Well, I am happy to report that there has indeed been a lot of progress as far as new material goes, especially with the lengthy so-called "epic' piece that the guys have been arranging for quite some time now. Shortly after I arrived, before taking to their respective instruments, Adam suggested that everyone should first have a listen to what they had recorded during the previous session in order to make sure that all were in agreement with certain recently added sections. And listen they did. In fact, to give you some idea - my parking meter expired twice before they were done. And judging from the smiles on their faces, it seemed that, for the most part, Danny, Adam and Justin liked very much what they were hearing and that after some finishing touches, the 'epic' tune would be ready for Maynard to do his thing. (During some of the more melodic passages, I was trying to envision the vocals which, to me, brings it all together.)
After a bit of discussion about some rapid-fire triplets in one section, I asked Danny if he was going to be able to knock out the piece in one take when it came time to track it? His response was to smile and bury his head in his hands, which I will let the readers interpret for themselves. As for the song itself, without giving too much away, it features complex time signatures, interesting harmonic structure and expanding effects processing - similar to what fans of Tool have come to expect - only now, perhaps not surprisingly, the band has taken it to the next level.
Okay, having given you this bit of an update, please note that I am NOT suggesting in any way that the band is ready to go into the studio any time soon. I honestly have no idea as far as any recording timetables go. I am also not sure how many other songs are near completion at this point. Nor do I know at what stage the vocals might be at for ANY of the new material. All I am saying is that as far as this one particular song goes (albeit, a very lengthy one), it was a LOT closer to being finished (instrumentally, speaking) than the last time that I heard it, and that fans of Tool's music will certainly not be disappointed.
