ÆNIMA

Though I am not really very enamored (or even tolerant) of metal--especially tech/"extreme" metal--there is something profoundly alluring and interesting about Tool music. I think it's the fact that, despite the thick and heavy chords, there is this kind of etheric spaciousness to the music. Maynard James Keegan's singing is usually so diverse and rarely domineering, like he finds the holes and threads in the music into which he weaves his voice/vocals as if they are another instrument. I find it fascinating.

1. "Stinkfist" (5:11) (8.75/10)

2. "Eulogy" (8:29) a fascinating exploration of space, temporality, and dimensionality. (19.5/20)

3. "H." (6:03) awesome intro of heavily distorted power chords! Brilliant tease of potential energy during the singing parts! Amazing construct! (9.5/10)

4. "Useful Idiot" (0:39) LOL! (4.5/5)

5. "Forty Six & 2" (6:03) great Crimsonian weave. (8,75/10)

6. "Message to Harry Manback" (1:53) super creepy! (4.5/5)

7. "Hooker with a Penis" (4:34) too much for me. (8/10)

8. "Intermission" (0:56) ;) (5/5)

9. "Jimmy" (5:24) some cool vocal techniques, otherwise, too much like a heavier NIRVANA song. (8.5/10)

10. "Die Eier Von Satan" (2:17) You got it! (5/5)

11. "Pushit" (9:56) by now, the sound and rhythmic patterns of the music are getting a bit tiring. Still, Keenan's unorthodox vocal talents (and subject matter) are mesmerizing. Great final three minutes of bass & guitar. (18/20)

12. "Cesaro Summability" (1:26) (4.5/5)

13. "Ænema" (6:40) almost like a normally structured song--(at least for the first three minutes)! And multiple tracks used by Maynard! (9/10)

14. "(-) Ions" (4:00) explorations in sound recording and the harmonics of sheet metal manipulations and sequence of electrode sound sample. (8.5/10)

15. "Third Eye" (13:47) Heartbeat. Tape of comedian on drugs & music, weather, while drums and searing heavily distorted guitar fly around. When bass kicks in in the low end around 2:15, a song comes together within which Maynard's treated vocal joins in. Amazing amp up with scream! What a journey this fourteen minutes takes me on! What creativity and courage the band shows! And they bring it to a crescendo and finale better than any other song on the album. (29/30)

A-/five star; a minor masterpiece of hard-driving, brutally honest, syncopated and eccentric heavy prog. Better than Lateralus? Not sure. I'll have to listen to them back-to-back to determine that.