Some Tool fans who discovered the iconic heavy metal band as teenagers have spent nearly half their lives waiting for the band's latest album, 2019's Fear Inoculum. The members of Tool are notorious perfectionists who've spent increasingly longer periods in the studio as their career has progressed. Fear Inoculum followed a 13-year gap between releases, and while not all of that time was spent refining the music, the band members logged plenty of hours in the studio over the course of those years, fine-tuning the epic, intricate songs that ended up on the album.
Tool's music has always been intricate, even when the band's songs were more concise. The band is heavily influenced by the wonkiness of prog rock along with the intensity of metal, which successfully set them apart from the pack in the '90s, when they scored radio hits including "Sober," "Prison Sex" and "Aenema." Since then, Tool has ventured even further on its own unique path, creating dark, brooding songs with dense composition and haunting lyrics from singer Maynard James Keenan.
T-Mobile Arena, 8 p.m. Jan. 17, starting at $55 plus tax and fee. 888.929.7849 AXS
