Tool Release Demo of New Song “Descending”!

UPDATE, 12:10pm EDT: As several readers have pointed out, the presence of crowd noise at the beginning of this clip may mean it’s a soundboard recording of a live performance, not a studio demo. Still: it’s by far the cleanest version of the track we’ve heard so far.

Original Post:

Tool have always been sly, coy, deceiving, slick, even mocking. That’s, like… their thing, man.

So how fitting is it that the band has released their first piece of new music in 12 fucking years (almost to the day!) without even saying a word about it? SO fucking Tool.

The new song has been released as the background music for a promo video pushing the musician clinics three-fourths of the band will be hosting next month. It’s a recorded version of “Descending,” which the band has been playing live the past couple of years. There’s plenty of fan-filmed video footage floating around of those performances, but this is the first time we’re hearing a recorded version of the track.

For what it’s worth, I’m not convinced this is a finished version of “Descending.” The mix sounds raw, uneven and small to my ears… it lacks that giant-sized Tool bite, especially at the end (this part should sound MASSIVE), so we’re gonna call this a demo. And it’s instrumental which, duh, means no Maynard, and it’s clearly not the first single. Still: first new piece of recorded Tool music in TWELVE FUCKING YEARS! That’s a big deal.

When the band does finally release their new album’s first single it’ll be a huge event, but until then… enjoy!