Album Rating: 4.0

I honestly think that the opener and maybe 7empst are the only ones hear with any sort of a unique personality

Album Rating: 4.0

Oh and I really like Chocolate Chip Trip too

Album Rating: 4.0

Just dropped my rating and might drop it some more.



Descending grew on me but everything else has grown off to some extent.

I would say that, T/T, and Tempest are still enjoyable to me. Culling voices and CCT i like in the context of the album but wouldn’t come back separately for them. Pneuma and Invincible just don’t have enough going on to make up for the flat vocal performance.



Being familiar with their discography, it’s just too hard to listen to listen to this and not hear all the gaps where prime Maynard would have given us a big climax or vocal hook. Instead we have riffs designed to be sung over that just have silence. I enjoy the music a lot, hence the previously high rating. I’m not sure if they realized during the writing process how far he’d fallen off, or perhaps they would have crafted the songs differently.

Album Rating: 4.0

Also tempest is great musically, and it’s nice to hear Maynard try to bring some aggression to it but ultimately the song succeeds in spite of him. Band shouldn’t have waited 13 years until he got old to put this out

Album Rating: 3.0

my favorites here are easily the 2-3-4 punch of Pneuma, Invincible, and Descending

[2], my favourite stretch too.

Album Rating: 5.0

Yup, Culling Voices is not exactly riveting in comparison with those.

Album Rating: 4.0

The beginning of culling voices is great, it branches out from all the aeolian riffs and simple power and suspended chords to give us a little tritone action, and the song has a great buildup only for Maynard to vanish.



Invincible may be even worse because instrumentally it keeps building and building only for the vocals to come back in at the exact same register and intonation with “warrior struggling...”. It comes off so flat and the disconnect so bizarre that I’m shocked they put it to tape tbh. That’s the one song that I’ve never liked here, because there’s just not enough going on musically to make up for it. It seems tailor made for a Eulogy style progressive increase in vocal intensity over the track’s runtime

"Invincible may be even worse because instrumentally it keeps building and building only for the vocals to come back in at the exact same register and intonation with “warrior struggling...”. It comes off so flat and the disconnect so bizarre that I’m shocked they put it to tape tbh"
My exact vibe on this song, cannot stand that line or the delivery

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

'“warrior struggling...”. It comes off so flat and the disconnect so bizarre that I’m shocked they put it to tape tbh"'



with Tool I always think there's some irony and in-jokes going down, I can't imagine they wrote the lyric not thinking they're seen as the old warrior struggling and laughing at that



the way he sings it is so heavy handed and silly, seems self referential and a pisstake

Album Rating: 4.0

Maybe you’re right but the performance here along with the new APC suggests he’s just totally lost his range

Album Rating: 4.0

ive only rly been bumping descending as of late



And pneuma a bit

Album Rating: 2.5

Considering what Maynard is able to do, he's really underwhelming here

Album Rating: 4.0

I love Invincible, probably my fav here overall, but there is that one section of the song where Maynard's delivery on "warrior struggling... etc" feels flat. It's the only part of the album where I have an issue with his delivery.

Album Rating: 5.0

In the live show he's in the back as well. The band is clearly and intentionally assuming that form.

Album Rating: 4.5

my favorites here are easily the 2-3-4 punch of Pneuma, Invincible, and Descending (3)



My top 3 songs on the album.

Album Rating: 3.0

where is aiwaz? banned?

Album Rating: 1.0

Thankfully, yes.

Album Rating: 3.0

what did he do?

Album Rating: 3.0

this thread would have 700 pages by now had he been here