Ænima
The bass line in Forty Six & 2 does more than introduce a memorable song. It gives Tool a pattern they can keep turning over, changing the pressure around it while its identity stays clear. Ænima is full of that productive tension between repetition and movement.
The band sound exceptionally connected. Justin Chancellor's bass has a prominent, flexible role, Danny Carey's drums continually alter the accents, and Adam Jones uses the guitar to add weight and texture. Maynard James Keenan's singing can remain melodic inside the most abrasive passages, giving the music an emotional line that the instruments can challenge or support.
Stinkfist is an immediate demonstration of that balance. The riff has a physical directness, but the arrangement keeps making space for changes in vocal intensity and instrumental emphasis. Eulogy takes a longer route, beginning with percussion before the bass and voice gradually establish the song. Its final rise feels imposing because the band have controlled the approach so carefully.
Forty Six & 2 is especially rewarding in the way Carey develops the rhythm around the central figure. The instrumental break adds complexity without making the song lose its grip. The playing invites attention to the interaction between parts, rather than treating a difficult passage as a separate achievement.
The record also has an abrasive sense of humour. Hooker with a Penis is confrontational and pointedly ugly, while the short interludes interrupt the heavier songs with messages, noises and unexpected textures. Those interruptions create a stranger environment, though some are more effective as jokes than as material worth hearing each time.
Third Eye stretches the closing argument furthest. Its feedback, samples and shifting passages are striking, but the looseness of its shape makes it a more demanding destination than the strongest songs need. The album's identity survives the detours because the band's rhythmic language remains so distinctive.
Ænima combines an unusually clear physical sound with an imagination willing to make that sound uncomfortable. Its most persuasive passages do not ask the listener to decode a hidden theory. A bass phrase, a changing drum accent and a voice rising through the noise already provide plenty to think and feel about.
