Music
Tool Issues Big Update On New Album
According to a recent update on Tool‘s official website, the band has been hard at work on new material, including a “…lengthy so-called “epic” piece that the guys have been arranging for quite some time“. While forward progress has been made, the post emphasizes that this does NOT mean the band will be entering the studio any time soon. It specifically states that this is just the band getting everything ready for the new album, which will be the followup to 2006’s 10,000 Days.
The full post can be read below.
A couple of weeks ago I visited the Tool loft to try and get some kind of idea as to how things were progressing with the writing sessions now that the band was back hard at it. Well, I am happy to report that there has indeed been a lot of progress as far as new material goes, especially with the lengthy so-called “epic’ piece that the guys have been arranging for quite some time now.
Shortly after I arrived, before taking to their respective instruments, Adam suggested that everyone should first have a listen to what they had recorded during the previous session in order to make sure that all were in agreement with certain recently added sections. And listen they did. In fact, to give you some idea – my parking meter expired twice before they were done. And judging from the smiles on their faces, it seemed that, for the most part, Danny, Adam and Justin liked very much what they were hearing and that after some finishing touches, the ‘epic’ tune would be ready for Maynard to do his thing. (During some of the more melodic passages, I was trying to envision the vocals which, to me, brings it all together.)
After a bit of discussion about some rapid-fire triplets in one section, I asked Danny if he was going to be able to knock out the piece in one take when it came time to track it? His response was to smile and bury his head in his hands, which I will let the readers interpret for themselves. As for the song itself, without giving too much away, it features complex time signatures, interesting harmonic structure and expanding effects processing – similar to what fans of Tool have come to expect – only now, perhaps not surprisingly, the band has taken it to the next level.
Okay, having given you this bit of an update, please note that I am NOT suggesting in any way that the band is ready to go into the studio any time soon. I honestly have no idea as far as any recording timetables go. I am also not sure how many other songs are near completion at this point. Nor do I know at what stage the vocals might be at for ANY of the new material. All I am saying is that as far as this one particular song goes (albeit, a very lengthy one), it was a LOT closer to being finished (instrumentally, speaking) than the last time that I heard it, and that fans of Tool’s music will certainly not be disappointed.
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AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.
The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.
Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24.
Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”
Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.
The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.
Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.
The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.