Album Rating: 5.0

Listen to an album till you get tired of it - drop the rating - accuracy



Ps - agree with those 3 fave songs, being t/track really close amd messing with the rank.

@Titan: Yup. He was being racist/discriminating I guess (?)

Album Rating: 4.0

Actually I spent more time listening to their older albums and dropped this in response. Prime Maynard was a big part of what made those albums 5s even though they’re still musically brilliant, especially Danny

Album Rating: 5.0

I think this will endure itwas, ain t about a superstar emotional vocalist no more I agree though...which made him led some awesome tracks/ albums. But glad you corrected what made you drop the rating.

Album Rating: 4.5

At least he isn’t making this vocal-centric and isn't oversinging, when the voice really isn't THAT good or interesting. Like the new Opeth.

Album Rating: 4.0

I mean yeah prog era opeth sucks no argument there

2 out of 4 rule very hard, from the other two one is alright and the other disappointing. It's an era with ups and downs for sure.

Album Rating: 4.5

"At least he isn’t making this vocal-centric and isn't oversinging, when the voice really isn't THAT good or interesting. Like the new Opeth."



Yeah don't mess with the new Opeth pls

Exactly Faraudo!

Album Rating: 2.5

This album has grown off me hard. Went from 3.5 to a 2.5 and might even drop it to a 2. The musicianship is great, but I honestly just find this album *so boring*. It needed to be trimmed by at least 20 minutes. The jammy nature of every song just gets really repetitive.



Still like Pneuma and 7empest, but even those songs are way too long for what they bring to the table.

Album Rating: 5.0

I think they shot themselves in the foot by making the whole album in 7. That TS just lends itself to a repetitive nature.

I like the album a lot. Agree with some of the criticisms here, just to a lesser extent. I think this album is a pretty big accomplishment and all the musicianship is crazy. I think the band has probably seen their prime pass, at least in terms of how intense and fresh their output can feel, but this album is a fantastic front-to-back listen and is a lot better than 10k Days, which was another album that excelled as a front-to-back listen, but less so as individual tracks.

A few notes:

Album is really proggy. If the whole thing is really in exclusively 7 time signatures I didn't even notice, the polyrhythmic interplay has really reached a new whole on this album and I have an incredibly hard time counting any of it lol.

Maynard's vocals sound different and the way he approaches the songs feels different. Nothing as exciting as a song like The Patient but he is still a great frontman. He has lost a lot of his intensity but he's trying something different and while it isn't his absolute best, it is still quite good.

Danny and Justin are amazing as always but I feel like Adam turns out his best performance here. The riffs don't feel recycled, to me, except for a few moments that seem to deliberately recall old motifs, a la Schism in the intro of Vicarious: Pneuma's main riff harkens back to Schism and the ending of Invincible sounds a lot like the ending to Lateralus, even though the progression is very different. I imagine that this was intentional, given how much time they spent working on the album.

The interludes are cool on the first listen but drag. Lateralus still has the best interludes/transition/flows. I'm very fond of this album though and I think it's an incredible later career achievement.

No other band really sounds like TOOL and nobody else could write songs this long. I agree that 7empest is one of the weaker tracks, the first 3 minutes feel like a return to their Undertow days, which is fun, but feels kind of silly with how "heady" the rest of the album is. That's actually my biggest criticism. It's an incredibly small one, but if Maynard dropped that "here we go again!" and just replaced it with a sick pick slide I would've had an easier time accepting it.

edit: sorry guys, "nobody else could write songs this long and still achieve this level of commercial success."

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

"nobody else could write songs this long"



anyone can staple boring metal riffs together for 10 minutes. and not even tool pull it off.

"nobody else could write songs this long"

what about justin timberlake

Album Rating: 3.0

I'm arriving at it being rather OK. Some good moments instrumentally but voting it at around half as many points as Lateralus seems about right.

No Melonhead

FEAR INOCULUM > UNDERTOW

Album Rating: 4.5

"Exactly Faraudo!"



Don't drag my man Mike into this, peeps. Kudos for liking In Cauda, Trif!

Album Rating: 4.5

I was saying that I respect Maynard for taking a step back and not making this a one man show.



By comparison the new Opeth album is the opposite of that and as a result not very good. And yes, I guess I'm ‘dragging your man Mike into this’ 'cause his obsession with vocal-centric dad rock has reached a point that isn't commendable.

Album Rating: 2.5

"FEAR INOCULUM > UNDERTOW"



Hard disagree. Undertow is engaging and exciting from front to back. Fear Inoculum has moments, but is largely a repetitive bore.

Album Rating: 2.5

Undertow has riffs