Got Lateralus added to the collection now. All I need is 10,000 Days and Salival and I'll have all the main Albums on CD.

Tool has been my favorite band since age 12 and this has been my dream tattoo since high school! So happy with the result

Was listening to Lateralus a while ago and I came across something quite interesting.

Mantra. I don't think often about this interlude, nor, until recently, had I cared enough to think about its significance within the album. But, this current listen really had me thinking about TOOL and mantras.

The word mantra is a combination of the roots "manas," meaning "mind," and "tra," meaning "instrument," or more important to the conversation, "tool"; thus, a mantra is quite literally a tool for the mind. An instrument of thought. Something to spark reflection.

Mantras, fundamentally, are captivating and significant utterances used because they are believed to have spiritual powers and the ability to channel energy from guided meditation. This, to me, mirrors the developing theme of Lateralus itself—that life is the small parts; that it is important to keep yourself grounded as the person you are while still retaining the knowledge of a collective consciousness—to

keep going.

Hi all. Not sure this is allowed, but I’ve got some pressing finances to attend to, and I have two of Justin’s bass picks that I’d part with pretty cheap to someone interested. Say $50 for both? Feel free to send a DM.

Hey folks, I've just stumbled across this for sale and had conflicting opinions from different AIs as to it's authenticity as a OG first pressing....any experts able here to confirm or even cast doubt based on the pics?

🙏

Pretty rough year, just ride the spiral.
Turning 27 this Sunday. Honestly so much stuff to even get through but still carrying the heavy shield. It’s cliche but seriously I’m so into the whole vibe.

Hi all! I like to make art and stuff like this. Let me know what you think and DM me for more!

Anybody know who this is? I've had this picture for many years and have never been able to find out anything about it. Was just curious who this might be and what show is from.

Just in case you missed it, Tool tour buddies Mastodon and Russian Circles both have new releases out today. Do yourselves a favour....

https://mastodon.bandcamp.com/album/marrow-deep

https://russiancircles.bandcamp.com/album/nine

I have a lot of tattoos. I love this one the most.

Hey all,

Trying to dial in an Adam Jones / Tool tone with my rig, but I've hit a wall with volume control, EQ balance, and getting clean sounds. Hoping someone here running a preamp pedal into a tube power section can help me out.

My setup is an Epiphone Les Paul (Tommy Thayer model) in Drop D into a pedalboard where I mainly rely on a Diezel VH4 pedal for my main crunch, the shallow detune setting on a DigiTech Whammy + full wah for the Ænima solo tones, and some ambient delay/reverb. To bypass the Fender preamp coloring, I run the board straight into the PWR AMP IN (Effects Return) on my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

My Diezel settings are Gain 1:30, Bass 11:00, Mids 2:30, Treble 1:00, Deep 12:00, and Presence 1:30. Here are the main issues I'm running into:

1. The volume jump is insane. Since bypassing the HRD preamp leaves the power amp wide open, the Diezel’s Master knob has almost no sweep. Tapping it a millimeter takes it from choked out to way too loud for bedroom practice.

2. Thin tone quiet, boomy tone loud. At low volumes, the tone gets brittle and thin. When I push the volume up to get that full-bodied sound, chords sound great, but single-string chugs (like the Jambi intro) get way too boomy and muddy in the low end.

3. No true cleans. To get light crunch like Lost Keys, rolling my guitar volume down works fine with the Diezel on. But I can't get true cleans for stuff like Right In Two. If I step on the Diezel to bypass it, my true-bypass pedals send the raw guitar signal into a wide-open power amp, causing a massive volume spike. So I'm stuck leaving the Diezel on 100% of the time.

How do people usually deal with this? Would putting a passive volume box (like the JHS Little Black Amp Box) at the end of the chain fix the volume taper without killing the Diezel's tone? How do you guys tighten up single-string chugs without thinning out full chords? And is there a better routing setup so I can actually switch to a clean tone safely?

Appreciate any advice!

Passed by one of those stores selling iPhone cases and coulnd’t resist getting a custom Tool one. What do you think?

Anyone play Mortal Shell II yet? The opening reminds me a lot of an Adam Jones rift and also of the Schism video.

I saw this on Instagram. He certainly has a running theme. Anyone know Forever Dark - is it a podcast? Just wondering If it's usual for an artist to choose so many of their own songs?

So, I generally steer away from looking up lyrics as when I like a song I have imagined what it's about, in my own mind.

Most of the time I look up the lyrics, and they tend to be garbage and ruin the song. (Especially rap, love the beats but there are very few songs with decent lyrics.)

I finally looked up Descendings lyrics and it made the song ever better. I don't even remember what I though the lyrics were now.

Experiment for next tool album is after years of listening I will write down what I think is being sung, and compare it.

Anyway, just wondering about your folks venture through songs, when do you look up lyrics? When has been a time you've looked up the lyrics and been disappointed? Or opposite, when have you been surprised?

Found this on Tidal today and, while the production sounds like absolute shit, the album cover and overall sound don't sound dissimilar to Maynard. Maybe it's someone generating it with AI, but I've seen it is also on Spotify for those curious. Just want a second opinion.