I saw Tool last Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas, NV. On the drive, I stopped off a coffee shop and the twenty-something barista I encountered, quite pleasantly chatty, expressed her appreciation for the shirt I was wearing. I explained that I was going to see this special (globally known) band, Tool, to which she responded "Never heard of 'em".
(Wince. Smile. Sigh. š).
But...from afar...a glimmer...
"OH! I know who you mean. I think my friend likes 'em. They're too hard rock for me."
To be clear, Tool isn't any one genre. Personally, I consider their artistry as progressive rock: lead songwriter is a highly educated and multi-skilled musician; the drummer is a well-read philosophy type; the lead singer is ex-Army turned punk, then rock star...
Yes, they swing. Pretty heavy: sort of a mix of the styles of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rage Against the Machine, and the Nine Inch Nails.
Below is the live version of the third track from their most recent work, āFear Inocculumā (released about five or six months after the COVID19 pandemic sprang). It's a great look at the depth of their artistry. The track is titled Litanie contre le peur--French for "litany against fear." Itās an interludeāan instrumental track running 2:14, and acting as one of four brief interludes between the longer songs. Specifically, it separates Pneuma (Greek for breath) from Invincibleāboth, some of their BEST work.
The song is all synthesizer and digital affects, with an ethereal voice humming occasionally. The effect is a hypnotic little bridge in an album intended to be listened to as a whole, from beginning to end.
Although it is the third track on the album, the live show starts off with the Litanie contre le peur and transitions into the albumās first track, Fear Inocculum (the title song). Much of their album art and the animation displayed during their shows are by Alex Grey . The guitarist, Adam Jones, had a working relationship with the famed artist even before Tool was formed (from what I understand).
Give it a listenā¦
Litanie contre le peur is likely taken from Frank Herbert's science fiction classic āDuneā.
In Frank Herbertās Dune novels, a litany (i.e. chant, recitation) comes into play a few times, but most memorably, it's summoned in an early, critical scene in the novel. When protagonist Paul Atreides is a young man, he's approached with a test of his self-control and courage. A Reverend Mother (the witch in charge) holds a box and tells him to put his hand inside while she holds a poisoned "gom jabbar" (a kind of mechanical needle) to his neck. She tells him the box is going to cause him tremendous pain, but if he reacts to it and pulls his hand away, she will release the gom jabbar's needle and kill him.
To steady himself, Atreides summons to mind the Litany Against Fear, which goes:
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
So he controls his animal impulses and begins his journey to becoming a hero.
Ostensibly, the instrumental track may be interpreted as an expression of the Litany Against Fear. What do you think?