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Exploring Tool’s Ænima: A Progressive Metal Classic Ænima

Exploring Tool’s Ænima: A Progressive Metal Classic

Neil Johnson 17 September 2024

Tool's 1996 album Ænima significantly impacted progressive metal with its complex arrangements, profound lyrics, and unique artwork....

Podcast Episodes

Riffology: Iconic Rock Albums Podcast

Welcome to Riffology, where a GenX and a Millennial talk about the albums from their youth. It’s more fun than it sounds…

Soulfly’s debut gets the dry-ice treatment: Max channelled grief into groove and built a new tribe from scratch. We dig into Ross Robinson’s Indigo Ranch crunch (’97–’98), Andy Wallace’s mix, George Marino’s finishing pass, and why the record sits between thrash, hardcore and late-90s “heavy with swing.” Guests roll through—Burton C. Bell & Dino Cazares, Chino Moreno, Benji Webbe, Fred Durst & DJ Lethal, Eric Bobo, Christian Olde Wolbers—while Brazilian percussion (yes, the berimbau) stitches it together.

Highlights: “Eye for an Eye,” “Bleed,” “Tribe,” “No Hope = No Fear”; the ambient and percussive detours; the two cover variants; and those sleeve notes—dedications to Dana, and the ominous “judgement is coming.” We talk charts (US 79, UK 16, France 14, Germany 29, Australia 33), the Roadrunner moment, and the Slipknot/Korn/Deftones/Coal Chamber overlap without the copy-paste.

Stay to the end: the driest laughs land in the sign-off, including a brief masterclass in how not to ask for subscriptions.