ÆNIMA

Welcome to a world of dark, desolate and compleatly insane music. I give 5 stars to the atmosphere but 3 as an album. Why? Well, the ideas are really cool, but I feel a lack of organization, and a presence of too much filler here and there. Its a little broken up and I wish it was as smooth as their later works Lateralus and 10000 days which I feel are both stronger albums in comparison.

I do give a plus to the musicianship though. The guitar is erie and brings a punch with some really cool leads. Maynard has such an interesting and haunting voice that you will always be able to pick out if you here him sing somewhere else. The rhythem section (drums and bass) complement each other with some very effective auxillary breakdowns every once in a while. Danny Carry is great on the drums, but his real masterpice performances are on Lateralus.

This album really does take you to a new world, a trip which you wont forget. Tidbits like Useful Idiot Die Eier Von Satan and Intermission really build tension and atmosphere and then usally explode into a heavy conniption of music. I think the strongpoints on the album are Eulogy Pushit and Third Eye. All three are very trippy. The guitar work on Pushit is especially impressive. Third Eye flows carefully through a flood of guitar (with a mindblowing amount of effects added) polyrhythmic drums and experimental vocals to create a very heavy post-metal journey through space.

What brings this album down is mainly drawing out of songs that shouldnt be as long as they are. The album just seems to drag on without any flow. It feels as if tool wrote all the songs individually, added some filler tracks, smashed them together, and then carefully streached them all out.

I also think Tool does a bad job at mixing and producing their albums. The mix of the different instruments and Maynard's voice dosnt feel right. I think the guitar is too loud in the heavy sections, and not loud enough during the quiet ones. I also think that Maynard's voice isnt loud enough ever throughout the album. I cant barely tell that there is a bass half of the time, but the drums are right where they're supposed to be.

In conclusion, tool created an album with great musicianship, interesting ideas and produduce a very effective, dark atmosphere, but the song writing production quality takes away from the album. Luckally they fix this problem with Lateralus and even more with 10000 days. Not a totally essential album for your prog collection, but is defenetaly worth a listen or two for the experience in itself, because Tool is such an accomplished band with new ideas. Isnt that what prog is about?

3.5 stars rounded down.

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