News: Tool Album

The members of Tool aren't at all jealous of frontman Maynard James Keenan's commitment to his other band, A Perfect Circle. They enjoy the downtime. And when they get antsy, they can get to work on new ideas without having a hands-on singer getting in the way.

For months, drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor have been jamming together, and they've already got the framework for 10 to 12 new songs.

Tool will continue to write as a trio until mid-June, when Keenan finishes touring with A Perfect Circle. Then they'll work through the songs with their singer for another two or three months before hitting the studio, Carey said. While it's too early to get an overall read on the new songs, Carey described the material as heavier and more intense than the group's last disc, 2001's Lateralus.

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Carey said he hopes the new Tool record will be ready for release by the end of the year, but he added that it may not be issued until early 2005 in order to avoid being lost in the Christmas shuffle.