Day 207: The Grudge by TOOL // 8.5

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Related imageGENRE: prog rock
What a glorious day it is. Fans of TOOL have been waiting for this moment for years; it is the day when all their music is finally available on streaming platforms. And so for today's special, we're talking about one of openers off Lateralus. After the opening silence, we get a really groovy riff in what I believe to be 5/8. The jarring entrance of the distorted guitar that ramps up the rhythmic speed is just so cool to hear as well. They start with quarter-notes, followed by triplets, sixteenth notes, then sixtuplets. I'd be really impressed if they added five-lets in there. The main portion of the song is in 5/4 though. My favorite thing to do while listening to their songs is trying to figure out what they're trying to do in terms of rhythm. I will say this though. Although TOOL aren't the most technically adept at their craft, they have a talent for just writing and sound design/mixing. Their sound is so crisp, clear, and well-balanced.

Following this main portion, we get a development section starting around the 5-minute mark. What is probably the textbook definition of progressive rock, you get a droning instrumental section with the full spectrum of the percussion section, ending with that ramping instrumental jab. TOOL then takes us away with a scream comparable to The Who's, before we fall into the void that is TOOL's ambience. The ending section with everything clashing together is just so awesome and a perfect release for this build up. You know, it's TOOL, and I'm incredibly biased. But what's music if you aren't biased?

Rating: 8.5/10


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