ÆNIMA

Tool's second album is a substantial improvement over Undertow. Beginning in a strange and avant-leaning end of the alternative rock genre with the comparatively accessible Stinkfist, the album draws the listener in and explores increasingly complex and mysterious territory, pulling you deeper and deeper into the bizarre sonic world the band have constructed out of the emissions from industrial music and through applying an alternative metal aesthetic to the sort of sonic experimentation engaged in by King Crimson and Heldon in the mid-1970s.

Once you hit material like Pushit and the title track you're completely lost in Tool's world, and only by seeing the album through can you find your way out. It's a compelling musical experience all around; alt metal fans should approach with an open mind and not expect everything to be as easy to take in as Stinkfist, and prog fans should have patience and give the band time to work their magic, but both should come out the other end enthralled and astonished by what they have gone through. A sonic Ænima indeed.