It builds with looming menace as the thunder gets closer and some violining guitar swirls, sounding like Pink Floyd's 'Empty Spaces'.Įventually loud thunder crashes lead to a fast hypnotic motif and some more forced vocals. The clean low key vocals speak of a river, the tales of a saviour, trials and tribulations, "a congregation gather round spewing sympathy, spare me", and "blinded by choices" you are "safely on your way". This is a masterful track beginning with stormy distant thunder and a guitar picking phrase.
'10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2)' is where the complex musicianship really comes into effect and all in 11 glorious minutes. Justin Chancellor's bass drones menacingly and then the percussion explosion of Danny Carey augments the chilling soundscape.
On 'Wings for Marie (Pt 1)' the droning ambience of layered guitars and extended vocal intonations are ethereal and atmospheric. Tool have a relentless rhythmic pace that is familiar to all Toolaholics, from previous albums "Aenima" and "Lateralus." The angular guitar phrases and odd time signatures are a key feature and the dark lyrics sung with so much passion by Maynard James Keenan. The lead breaks are as well executed as the distorted riffs, such as the wah-wah vocoder effects of Adam Jones' lead guitar on 'Jambi'. The attitude of the band has always been to attack at the jugular vein of society and reveal the uglier side of humanity. It begins with a blast of riffing elegance on 'Vicarious' with the Tool signature sound, razor edge riffs and emotive raspy vocals that echo more anger than the average screamer. The riffs are like machines in factories churning out iconic metal prog, check out that machine gun attacks on 'Jambi' for example. Tool blaze a trail of glory on "10, 000 Days" with raucous metal riffing precision and powerful song structures. A psycho-drama of technical riffing and atmospheric gloom.