Maynard James Keenan Received Death Threats Over Tool's Album Delay

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Aug 16, 2019

Before Tool detailed their forthcoming new album Fear Inoculum, plenty of entitled fans took it upon themselves to hound the band for years about whether or not new material would ever see the light of day. While the band have been good about brushing it off, the behaviour of a few fans  allegedly crossed the line.

In conversation with Metal Hammer, drummer Danny Carey revealed that frontman Maynard James Keenan received death threats from those fed up with the 13-year wait following 2006's 10,000 Days.

"I felt bad for him, and he even told me he was getting death threats from these idiots out there," Carey said. "They just have no idea what our work ethic is. These things don't happen, man. There's no other record that's going to sound like this Tool record. What you hear is what you get, and what you get is what it takes to get it done. And it's not an easy process."

Since late 2015, Keenan had handled most of the questions surrounding a new Tool album. Carey's comments echo those of guitarist Adam Jones, who told Revolver earlier this week that the frontman should shoulder none of the blame.

"I felt anxiety because they would blame our singer, and it's not his fault. We all have our own things going on — lives, families, other projects, other interests — so it's ready when it's ready," Jones said. "But I appreciate the dedication from our fans — the very strong dedication. [Laughs] But the record turned out cool and it's very different than our last record. I think that's what we all wanted."

Fear Inoculum is set to arrive August 30. Tool's entire back catalogue recently hit streaming services.

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