Bow Down To The GODS

I must admit I used to be an atheist until I happened to come across a band named TOOL. It is kind of ironical as it turns out that the members of the aforementioned band themselves aren't quite impressed by religion. But then again the phenomenal music this quartet creates is nothing short of inducing fanatism. You can certainly dismiss me as a sycophantic Tool fan but after reading this article :).


It is said that the best music is the hardest to describe and I couldn't agree more. Therefore I would conveniently skip raving about the Tool albums, the reviews of which you can find easily on the internet anyway. The purpose of this article wasn't to review the albums in any case. Instead lets embark on a journey frightfully intimidating and awe-inspiring.

For those of you unaware of the Fibonacci series: its a series which has its first two terms as 1 and each subsequent term as the sum of the previous two terms. So the series is 1,1,2,3,5,8,13 and so on. No I am not digressing. Its just that you need to know this small concept before you can grasp what I am trying to convey. The title track of Laterlus is based on the idea of this sequence. At first Lateralus appears to be simply another track about tripping on acid. However on repeated listens one realises its about evolution. Fact is: it is much more than that. The song is the key to decipher the album which contains 13 tracks(13 itself being a Fibonacci number). Just to give you an idea about this immensely complicated work of art sample this: the time signature in the track varies as 9/8,8/8 and 7/8 (987 being a Fibonacci number). This is certainly math metal but much more diverse and complicated than that. It has a drum sequence which progresses in Fibonacci series (1,1,2,3,5,8,13)and then repeats the pattern.Even the lyrics have the same pattern in the syllables. To really experience this you will have to carefully listen to the song.

The song Lateralus has the predominant rant towards the end "spiral out...keep going". Co-incidence?? There is no such thing as co-incidence in the parallel universe of Tool's music. It turns out that the Binet's formula,which gives the value of the nth Fibonacci term, when plotted on the Argand plane forms(hold your breath) a spiral!! For the geeks the formula is :
Fib(n) = 1/√5 [ {( 1+√5)/2}^n - {( 1-√5)/2}^n ]

Here (1+√5)/2 is phi or Φ which is the golden ratio(1.61803399). More about golden ratio and stuff later. The track numbers on the album when arranged,according to the spiral-beginning with the middle track, and listened produce an astounding effect. The apparently random tracks suddenly merge flawlessly with the time signature of the outro of the previous track matching with the intro of the next track. In some cases(like the transition from Schism to Ticks and Leeches)the drum beat is same and progresses mathematically. The effect is mindnumbing. The seemingly noisy meaningless long interludes fit in perfectly,as if they were just waiting to be put in the right place.

Another beauty of an example is the first and only single of the album Schism. The song is structured in 12/8 time signature and divided into 5/8 and 7/8.Can you guess what Maynard chants throughout the song eerily? I know the pieces fit!!!
There is so much more to blabber about. I can just go on and on...But i guess I have bored you enough already. So I guess I'll come up with the sequel to this post some other time.

Trivia: In case you didn't know(obviously you didn't), M.J.Keenan(vocals) went through rigorous curriculum in both Mathematics and English as a student. Now you wonder "no wonder the music is lyrically so cryptic and mathematically so beautiful". Danny Carey(percussions) is well versed(obsessed?)with sacred geometry apart from being one of the most technically proficient drummers ever. Adam Jones(guitars) has done special effects for Terminator 2, Jurassic Park and Predator 2.

P.S.: The music is dark,brooding and cerebral filled with narcotic passages. To say that its deep or complex is a gross understatement. Tool's music can't be classified,it transcends genres. The most you can do is label it : Art Rock,Progressive Metal,Math Metal and so on...

P.P.S.: Maybe now you can guess why my blog is named the way it is named. :D