Warthur To a large extent, Lateralus is simply part two of Aenima - and whilst I don't think it's quite as groundbreaking, novel, or fresh as its predecessor, it surely comes a close second to it. Justin Chancellor's bass work is a particular treat, and in fact on the basis of this album I'd say he's one of the absolute best bass players in the metal scene currently. Likewise, the rest of the band are on good form, and their tackling of their typical esoteric subject matter remains entertaining. Though I maintain that Aenima is the band's true masterpiece, this is a pretty good companion to it.

Doomster "Prison Sex" is a single released in 1992 by the American alternative metal/"prog" metal (I hesitate to call them that, to be honest) Tool. It was released as the second track of the band's debut album "Undertow" and is the second single from that album.

As for the actual song itself, it has a really grungy, even somewhat sludgy feel in it...something not present on the rest of the songs on the album. The band would later adapt this sludgy feel on their following "Aenima" album. The song also has a few interesting ambient sounds which give off a very dirty feel, demonstrated in the creepy intro played on the bass, which sounds like iron being twisted. Vocally, it is top notch like always. Frontman Maynard James Keenan has a very distinctive voice which keeps the music alive and flowing. The song is very disturbing in terms of lyrics...probably about the cycle of child abuse. The lyrics are disturbingly detailed and vulgar, but have a point to get across. Bass is audible like always in Tool songs, which is always a plus - on this particular album, Paul D'Amore was in charge of the bass, and while I still think he is inferior to the succeeding Justin Chancellor, he is still a very competent player. For the majority of the song, guitarist Adam Jones plays a grungy, taunting atmospheric riff. The song is also very short, at only 4:57, one of the shortest songs the band have ever written.

Even though this is no masterpiece, it's still a nice little single by one of my favorite bands. As you can see by the tracklisting, it also comes with a few live versions of other songs from their early material - "Opiate", "Undertow" and "Intolerance". If you're a fan of alt. metal with progressive tendencies, and are willing to kill a few bucks, you'd be a fool to pass this single up.

Warthur 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.

Warthur Tool's first full album to showcase their fusion of prog metal and alternative metal leans a little harder on the alt-metal side of the equation and goes easy on the prog. At points the album reminds me a lot of the sound Kyuss attained on Blues For the Red Sun - a fusion of the best of current alternative metal and grunge with older metal traditions. It's a reasonably competently composed and performed album, but at the same time it feels rather bland compared to the more distinctive work the band would come out with later on, and to my ears it doesn't really stand out from other alternative metal pieces from the same era.

Doomster "Ænima" is an incredibly heavy, foreboding, dark and innovative effort by well-recieved progressive metal band Tool. Along with their following "Lateralus", 1996's "Ænima" is often considered to be the pinnacle of Tool's career. While I don't like these two albums as much as their latest 2006 effort "10,000 Days", "Ænima" is definetely a powerful release, my second favorite Tool album and definetely one of their heaviest, if not the.

Along with Sabbat's "The Dwelling" and Neurosis' "Through Silver And Blood" it is one of the darkest albums of that year, and one of the highlights. Many people call Tool a "nu metal" band and that shows most on this release (and "Opiate"). However, I personally do not believe Tool are as nu metallish as some people say. Sure, it's agressive, and filters negative emotion, but Tool mainly focus on one very intricate and interesting musical style that the normal listener cannot put their finger on.

Lyrically, this is Tool's best album. No, I take that back. These lyrics are honestly drool-worthy. There is none of the philosiphical pretensiousness that seemed to dominate their other albums. The lyrics here are incredibly varied, ranging from incredibly pissed off, angry verbal attacks ("Hooker With A Penis", "Eulogy", "Aenema"), to obsessive sexual euphoria ("Stinkfist", possibly "Pushit"), to angsty-but-not-in-a-wimpy way rockers ("jimmy", "H."), to still philosiphical but less focused on intelligence tracks ("Forty Six And Two", "Third Eye"). Lyrically, this album is Tool's high point, in my personal opinion.

So, what's the album like, musically? Well, in terms of musicianship and just plain awesomeness, it is my second favorite Tool album. Believe me, this CD has a VERY dark atmosphere surrounding it. It's Tool's most foreboding album yet. While not as overwhelming as New York doomsters Khanate or fellow prog metallers Opeth, it still carries a frightening, dense and yet fragile atmosphere, making it incredibly unique, especially among 90's albums. Putting aside the many (quite annoying, I might add) fillers included in this album, all of these songs are incredibly heavy, yet light as a feather. It sounds like a recording of the heaviest falling leaf...and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible.

Now that I mentioned the fillers, I suppose I should expand on them. They are...pointless to say the least, and take away from the real songs on the album. A few are enjoyable ("Die Eier Von Satan", "Intermission") but they do nothing to the album. This CD has the most fillers out of any Tool CD (six of them) and, with the exception of "Intermission", none of these fillers segue into any of the full-length songs. These fillers are probably the only thing that really dissapointed me about the album.

All the "real" songs, however, are incredible. Perhaps my second favorite tune on this album is "Hooker With A Penis", only second to the massive, nearly 14 minute "Third Eye". The former song is the heaviest and most agressive on the album, with hilariously pissed off lyrics which shows the band's hypocritical humor. Kickass stuff right there. "Third Eye" is a sprawling nearly 14 minute epic, which twists and turns multiple times before developing into a climax which is so tectonically massive that you just have to hear it to belive it.

So, would I reccommend this album? Oh yes I would, but if you wanna start with Tool, get their masterpiece "10,000 Days" first, then buy "Ænima", then go from there. Tool as a whole are an amazing band, and their discography is loaded with good music. Get all their CD's if you're a fan of this type of stuff!!!