Fear Inoculum Tour

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The album's creation spanned over a decade, beginning with early instrumental work in 2008 following frontman Maynard James Keenan's announcement that new material was being written. Progress slowed significantly due to external factors; in 2013, guitarist Adam Jones suffered a broken hand from a motorcycle accident, which reportedly disrupted planned jamming time. Legal issues also played a major role, stemming from a 2007 lawsuit regarding artwork credit that escalated into counter-suits against an insurance company. By 2014, only one untitled ten-minute track was considered "pretty much done." Keenan famously described the state of the album as "noodles in a big basket" with no actual dishes formed until late 2017 when instrumentals labeled "FINAL" were sent to him for lyric writing.

In Their Own Story

Recording officially commenced on March 10, 2018, with producer Joe Barresi. By May 11, all drum parts had been tracked. Keenan recorded his final vocals in 2018 during the wine harvest at his Caduceus Cellars winery in Arizona, fitting sessions around winemaking duties while engineers Mat Mitchell and Barresi traveled to him. Although Carey predicted an April 2019 release by early 2019, Keenan corrected this timeline, aiming for a window between May and July. The band ultimately entered the studio with mastering engineer Bob Ludwig in March 2019. The first single, "Fear Inoculum," was released on August 7, becoming the longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at number 93 due to its 10:21 runtime.

Reader's Guide

The tour kicked off in May 2019 with a headlining show at Welcome to Rockville, where the band debuted two new songs: "Descending" and "Invincible." The title "Fear Inoculum" was officially announced on July 29, 2019. Prior to the album's release, Tool made their back catalog available on digital download and streaming outlets for the first time on August 2, 2019. The tour supported an album consisting of seven main tracks with a runtime just under 80 minutes. Fans could also access a deluxe edition featuring a 4-inch HD screen and a 2-watt speaker playing the additional track "Recusant Ad Infinitum," while an expanded book edition released in November 2019 included lenticular lens graphics and lyrics.

Did You Know?

• Guitarist Adam Jones missed jamming time due to a motorcycle accident in 2013 that caused a broken hand, though the exact number of days lost is unverified.
• The album's first single, "Fear Inoculum," is 10:20 long and charted on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart and the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
• Guitarist Adam Jones used a guitar riff from the mid-1990s that had previously been attempted for the 10,000 Days album but was ultimately saved for "7empest."
• The deluxe edition of the album includes an exclusive bonus track titled "Recusant Ad Infinitum" as an audio track on the DVD/Blu-ray, not a video track.
• Recording sessions were split between a major studio and Maynard James Keenan's Caduceus Cellars winery in Arizona during the 2018 harvest.