Between all the inspiration in the music, a band appears that turned the symmetry and the mysteries of nature into unique songs: Tool.
Music takes inspiration from everywhere, it is like a crystal through which everything that is human can be traversed until it is transformed between melodies, rhythms and emotions. From the landscapes that inspired Romanticism to social issues or the love stories that are told in contemporary music. Between that inspiration appears a band that turned the symmetry and the mysteries of nature into unique songs: Tool.
One of the factors that define this band is the endless use of mystical symbols found in their lyrics, music, videos, images and more. Much of its success is due to the use of all this. The same James Maynard (vocalist) has often affirmed in different interviews that he has studied and been involved in many of the religions of different cultures. Not only Maynard has these interests within the band, also Danny Carey (drummer) shares the same tastes about it; so from its beginnings, the band focused on a very abstract field in comparison to what many of the musical groups did in their times -the 90s-, in which it was more important to party, drugs and women, among other things within that stage of the rockstar.
If we take a look at Tool's visual art, the first thing that stands out is that there is a certain reminiscence of the occult and an obsession with geometry. If we look at his music, we can also appreciate certain complexities, especially in the rhythms and rhythms. What gives rise to all the subject of the letters, among which there are some that are a kind of mockery or sarcasm. Other songs, such as "Lateralus", talk about abstract situations related to certain themes of the occult.
The band composes their songs based on numerical patterns. Although it does not mean that they always contain an esoteric meaning. The best example of this is found precisely in the song "Lateralus", which in its rhythm has variants within the bars that mark what is known as the Fibonacci sequence or golden ratio, which tries to explain the pattern of behavior in nature, as the basis of beauty and perfection. This is further emphasized in the lyrics, with phrases such as "spiral out" (outside the spiral) and "ride the spiral" (enters the spiral).
His most abstract lyrics are mostly concentrated in the album Lateralus (2001), but not only the lyrics on this album are like that, also the art of his cover, made by Alex Gray and suggested by Danny. It is a game of colors that draw the human body and its energetic functions. The images on this album show energetic body points that have been studied by ancient oriental cultures. They refer to the chakras, the aura, and so on.
On the other hand, songs like "Die Eier Von Satan" (The Eggs of Satan) can sound very disturbing and obviously by the name in German, anyone would think it was made to invoke a kind of malignant energy in a Nazi march, but The truth is very different. In reality it is pure black humor, because the letter is a recipe for cooking to prepare a dish, but with the intention of mocking the malicious rituals. Other songs like "Sober" (Undertow, 1993) have lyrics that delve into personal despair. In this song we talk about the attempt to get rid of the vices, when people begin to believe in something else in order to ask for help.
The song "Schism" (Lateralus, 2001) is complemented with a video that deals with two beings that, with strange movements, seem to want to communicate. Each movement of this video can be given an interpretation related to the human situation in relationships. We can find these types of interpretations in other songs like "The Pot" (10,000 Days, 2006).
In his interviews, Tool has remarked that the main intention he seeks is to free himself with music, they try to open their minds so that people and their fans also expand their ideas, use the mind to be in contact with the artistic content of the albums that they have created and they have also freed themselves.
Something that might seem counterproductive, is the fact that Tool has only released four albums in a career of more than 20 years. This has kept the fans looking forward to every production. Right now they have them salivating before the possibility of a new plaque for this year that begins. At the same time, this may be the element that has kept them fresh and innovative, they are not in a hurry to "stick" or remain in force. The band does what they want and they know that their legions of fans are waiting for them. Although they maintain the same line in terms of certain auditory elements (heavy guitars, psychedelic passages, unusual metrics) the group sounds different in each of their albums, being nourished by new elements that they find over time.
As they themselves have described it, Tool tries to be more than a band, it wants to be a catharsis tool or a means to reach what one has proposed or find whatever it is that is being sought in this material or spiritual valley.
