Tool on February 6 at BankAtlantic Center

To call Tool the "thinking person's metal band," to use that oft-cited quote, is, frankly, insulting to the rest of the sprawling world of metal, a vast genre with cave-like nooks and crannies. Still, there has always been something obviously cerebral about the group, which has managed to enjoy both...

By Arielle Castillo

February 2, 2012

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To call Tool the "thinking person's metal band," to use that oft-cited quote, is, frankly, insulting to the rest of the sprawling world of metal, a vast genre with cave-like nooks and crannies. Still, there has always been something obviously cerebral about the group, which has managed to enjoy both mainstream success and underground props throughout its two-decade-plus career. From the start, there was always enough grinding heaviness to appeal to a certain '90s and millennial taste in metal while still boasting enough proggy instrumental flourishes and literary references to ensnare the chin-scratchers. It was a strategy that proved commercially viable for years, but still, over the past few, the group's future has seemed questionable. Infamously elusive but intelligent frontman Maynard James Keenan became deeply engrossed in his Arizona vineyard, Caduceus Cellars, and Tool dropped to the background. The band's current tour, which brings it to BankAtlantic Center on Monday, marks its first in several years. The band has hinted that a new album is in the works and could be soon forthcoming.

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