LATERALUS

Tool is not one of the most productive bands. After a five year gap they released Lateralus, which is regarded their masterpiece by many. On Lateralus Tool would create a sound that is now often seen as their distinctive sound, featuring grungy riffs, lots of triplets and unconventional song structures. Parts of this style had already made an appearance on the band's previous release, Ænima, but on Lateralus they are more dominant.

Lateralus opens with "The Grudge", the most aggresive song on the album together with "Ticks & Leeches". Both of these songs are absolutely mind-blowing in terms of power. The latter was the final track on the album to be recorded, because of the strain that the aggresive vocals would give to vocalist Maynard James Keenan's throat. Despite being great tracks, both of these tracks might not be the most representative of the musical style mentioned earlier in this review. Songs like "Schism", the two part suite "Parabol/Parabola" and the absolutely brilliant "Lateralus" are more distinctive.

There is very few negative to say about Lateralus, except maybe that the song "Triad" doesn't have much to offer to my ears and feels a bit out of place on this album. Also, I enjoy listening to albums as a whole. I'm usually not able to sit through 80 minutes of music, even if it's as amazing as the music on Lateralus. Apart from this, the album really is astounding in my opinion.

I've been doubting if I should give the album 4 or 5 stars. I went for the latter, as I don't feel that the length of the album should affect its rating. The music on this album is some of the most amazing I've ever heard. Lateralus is one of the biggest highlights in the history of music.