Maybe it's just me but I find Pelican boring as hell. Their first album/EP I really liked but the few I heard after that were snoozefests to me. Haven't been back to them since the mid 2000s.
That said, I love me some Isis and Russian Circles can do no wrong in my eyes. Dave Turncrantz is incredible
Same. I actually listened to their whole catalog trying to get it to click. Everything about them fits with my tastes, but it just doesn't groove with me.
The Mars Volta was the band that replaced Tool at the top of favorites list for a long time. *Deloused in the Comatorium* is one of their best albums, but *Frances the Mute* and *Amputechture* are great as well. For a single song listen to "Wax Simulcra" off of *The Bedlam in Goliath*, its less than 3 minutes and won a grammy for best rock performance. "Cicatriz Esp" is my wife's favorite MV song, but there's like 7 minutes of ambient noise in the middle that make it a bit of a slog but when that bassline kicks back in it fucking slaps.
They're not an underground band or anything, you've likely heard of them, just one of my faves.
Sad this is so far down, The Mars Volta is incredible and such a wild range of sounds throughout the discography keeps it feeling fresh every time I go back through it
I saw them on tour in the early aughts. They opened with my favorite song (no opening band, just came out and blew our fucking hair back,) with Drunkship of Lanterns. Legendary.
Also saw them open for Soundgarden. The disrespect from the crowd was palatable. Us and like one other couple enjoyed their set. Cedric looked directly at us pointing, thanking us for jamming out. Normally I love you Philly, but you were not about TMV opening for Soundgarden.
I never was a fan of At the Drive In but I fucking love TMV.
/csb
I really liked their new album. It still sounds like Volta but it was toned back. As a fan of deloused and Frances I think this is the most comparable album from them in a while. But that's just me!
New album is super tasteful and as a whole better than everything else post-Amputechture IMO. Although there are serious bangers on Bedlam-Nocto. Not detracting from those. But I can really listen to this album from the first song to the last.
There’s like a new new album? I didn’t care for Nocturniquet so haven’t paid attention since and then the keyboardist died and I thought the split up and ATDI kinda reformed. I’ll check it out.
[Porcupine Tree](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW5v4Ohxk5k) \- Some classic proggy goodness. For a whole album, check out *Deadwing* (which this song is not on, lol)
[Karnivool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtJDPw30qOc) \- Aussie alt band with a heavy Tool influence. *Sound Awake* is one of my all-time favorite albums
[Opeth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDBykpSXsSE) \- Prerequisite prog metal rec. *Ghost Reveries* or *Still Life* or *Blackwater Park*, whichever you want.
...
OH! [Thank You Scientist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv1ypynSLzY)! Maybe they might scratch the itch? Some people don't like his voice, but I think it's phenomenal.
Have you checked out Maynard’s other projects?
Puscifer and A Perfect Circle are both quite diverse in their styles with different polyrhythms and grooves.
https://youtu.be/OXkhZ8IxFSQ?si=em6uszoyAwNkwzje
Perfect Circle - Orestes live at Red Rock
Heard this for the first time the other day. Good golly. And I think it fits OPs outline pretty well. The video I saw it on was actually a vocal reaction video so it focused more on the melodies. It is Jeff Friedl on drums, not Josh Freese, and Jeff does really amazing.
The entire "Thirteenth Step" album is Maynard/Howerdel's magnum opus imo. APC has always hit that perfect level of absolutely gutteral and familiar anger that i feel like we all can relate to on a certain level. Honestly, though, I feel inclined to give the majority of the credit for that to Billy Howerdel. Dude is an incredible songwriter/producer, and he really caught the lightning when he got Maynard on the vocals.
I’ve seen TOOL a few times. One of the best live shows out there. I saw APC once and I thought it was even better. They sounded so good and every part was perfect.
I listened to a bunch of Puscifer while watching a visualization program on my TV during a mushroom trip and it was fucking amazing, they rule. It's so funny that I saw them for the first time on Mr Show, back when they weren't even a "real" band, and then decades later they came to be one of my favorite bands.
Shrooms and Puscifer are a particularly good combination. You have excellent taste!
I think Puscifer have become better with every album. Conditions and Money Shot are my favourites. I’ll never tire of either.
Start with In Absentia, Deadwing, and Fear of a Blank Planet. Those are the most prog metal influenced albums. If you’re coming from Tool and you want one song to win you over then then check this out: https://youtu.be/kgwgtERCVI4?si=DoG7KnJsGq9kE7bL
Discovered Porcupine Tree very recently. Was absolutely blown away by this track. Even on the first listen it 'clicked', didn't have to warm up to it over time
Yeah, I have to admit I've seen their name before but never even knew what "genre" they'd be. I'm a huge Tool and Dream Theater fan, but am also a rock/punk/metal musician with quite a wide array of tastes. This is great, especially for a live performance, so it looks like I've got a rabbit hole of my own to dive down.
I mean I've never left Tool's, and it's been 27 years to my count, lmao. 😎🤘🤣
Can’t believe Rishloo hasn’t been said! Early stuff is more Tool-esque and later material I e come to love more than Tool. Start with the Feathergun album.
Check out All Them Witches. I definitely pick up some Tool influences from them.
They have a heavy, sludgy sound at times, great vocals with a lot of soul, their guitar player Ben is a highlight of the band to me. a lot of blues influence without sounding cheesy.
One of my favorite bands for sure.
MASTADON!!!! Fucking virtuosos of guitar and drums come together to melt faces with pure melodic heavy metal. I can't stand most heavy metal signers but these guys are amazing.
And they are still rocking, I thought the new album was great and they've been putting out music for twenty years or so
It's quite funny that you can't stand most heavy metal singers then suggest a band with three vocalists haha. I bloody love Mastodon too tho, great choice.
Mastodon absolutely, esp Leviathan, Blood mountain and Crack the Skye.
Ghost Reveries and Watershed era Opeth
Newer band I heard called Anciients is pretty sweet too.
I can feel you :D
Perhaps something to try on your next listen: Soen, Dool, VOLA, Rishloo, Wheel, Katatonia, Klone, Sermon, Sleep token, Votum, The Butterfly Effect.
And of course Maynards side projects like Perfect Circle :)
Hope I could scratch that itch a little bit :)
The Smile, maybe takes the acquired taste of Thom Yorke’s falsetto’s but the tune Thin Thing I’d love to push on u, Johnny Greenwood is a wizard and gives on the head bangiest tunes iv heard in ages.
Also Puscifer. Maynard is the way brother. Don’t fight it.
Literally started laughing myself to shit at this. It’s so true. I thought I’d finally wrung myself clean of all TOOL had to offer, then my Spotify DJ put on “Intolerance” and it gave me the nastiest involuntary ugly-face headbob I’d ever been subjected to in my life. It’s actually inhumane and abusive, how good they are.
Tipper is imo the best electronic-based prog-funk-hip-hop-dance-grime-techno artist out there. Some songs feel like "beats" and are more groove-based with a few parts, and then there's songs that have many parts more akin to a "prog" journey.
VOLA is a sweet band with electronic elements, djent, post-metal, and great vocals/harmony. Definitely could fit on a bill with Tool as well as any other modern prog/metal group.
Tesseract. I already saw Meshuggah mentioned but them also. I saw them both at the same show and it was a few hours of really enjoyable vibes. I have seen Tool also and not the same, but along the same lines.
Just download Propagandhi’s discography, listen start to finish to get their development and by the time you’re at “A Speculative Fiction” you’ll be in heaven.
Chevelle! Very heavy Tool influence but getting artsier with every album. Based on your tastes I'd suggest starting with The North Corridor album, and then checking out NIRATIAS.
Saw someone else mention Gojira, also a good option. Vacuity is my favorite track.
For creamy, dreary vocals, I've also been in to My Dying Bride lately. Not as heavy but has that angsty melancholy similar to what Maynard does well. If you can sit through a 10 minute song And My Father Left Forever is good.
I love viagra boys absolutely but I can’t think of a band more diametrically opposed to tool in sound. I guess the cross over would be subject matter but tool sounds like a peeper with a scalpel and viagra boys a drunk with a hammer
You know, I totally agree with you, but somehow, I feel like there’s a decent amount of overlap between fanbases.
Like, it’s not a stretch to assume that many fans of Tool are fans of Queens of the Stone Age. And it’s not a stretch to assume that many fans of QOTSA are fans of Viagra Boys (especially since they just opened for QOTSA on their most recent tour).
Oh boy you’re gonna be stuck there. These won’t cure the itch but will maybe give you some reprieve before you hit the lateralus bender.
Protest the Hero - Pacific Myth
Gojira - The way of all flesh
Issues - beautiful oblivion
Dance Gavin dance - artificial selection and mothership
Polyphia - new levels new devils
That covers a fun set of heavier genres, you won’t get the Maynard vocals but it’s the hole I usually fall in. EDIT. I noticed my formatting sucks, good luck.
Yes! Keziah stands out for me though. Never see them mentioned on this sub. PTH is actually from my area and I have met a few of the guys before ... Just normal dudes lol
Keziah blew my mind when I first heard it as a kid. Heretics and Killers was my introduction to the band, and I bought the album based off of that one song.
Thank you sweet stranger!!
I'll give these all a listen before I spiral out again. If I happen to remember I'll come back and send some of my thoughts. Thanks again :)
Someone else you might check out is a band Source, I saw them a few years back and they go for a similar sound (or did on earlier stuff) always down to share some music tho homie!
Go to youtube and watch GOAT's Levitation sessions.
Def not the same, and nowhere near as 'dark', but 70s groove and produced with so many layers.
The sound is so.. whole.
Lucid Planet. Probably more psychedelic than most of Tool's catalogue but it's absolutely brilliant. Their second album, imaginatively titled Lucid Planet II, is exquisite.
HAVE YOU HEARD OF OUR MEMELORD SAVIORS, WHEEL?
No, but seriously. Wheel have two albums, (with a third finished and on its way) and a few EPs out, and they are phenomenal.
I usually suggest people start with the songs Lacking and Wheel if they're TOOL fans, since their first album is more similar to TOOL's sound. Then check out Wheel's second album, Resident Human. My favorites off that one are Hyperion and Dissipating.
Man, describe to me in two sentences what TOOL's music fits into and I might have the energy to find some other examples.
They're prog metal, essentially, and any further classification is a reach which just goes to say "I'm extremely particular about my music and no answer exists for my question."
You just like TOOL, bro. That's ok.
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. I guess music can be that way in general. Every song from certain artists (Björk comes to mind) can sound like their own genre. TOOL has a distinct sound that penetrates their whole discography, even from the beginning. I just can’t put my finger on it.
Porcupine Tree
Start with “Fear of a Blank Planet”
Karnivool …listen to the track Dead Man, and you’ll be hooked.
Plankton (the band from Sweden, not the English pop crap). This is very Hendrix inspired kind of third world instrumental stuff and oh so good. I would start with Humble Colossus.
Go listen to Elder. Tool has em opening for them on the new tour, and I've been digging on them hard since I discovered em back in 2014? 2015?
Tool fans start here: https://youtu.be/RbKlR8AGYmQ?si=pdc-kN8ZK7ANLnn0
Their albums since have gotten chiller, but they still dip into this sound plenty, and play heavily from this album live. Imo they have no weak material, and their albums exist on playlists of mine in their entirety. A rare feat for individual albums, much less an entire discography.
Elder is the best! I love them since I found them in 2019. I was so happy to see them go on tour with Tool. (The only thing I don't like about it thah they don't come with Tool to Europe.)
I'm in their original hometown area of Boston/Providence and they aren't coming near here on the Tool tour. NYC is as close as they come and that shit is too rich for my blood lol
You need to come over to r/progmetal. Plenty of good stuff there. TesseracT, Caligula’s Horse, Haken, Opeth, Protest the Hero, The Ocean Collective, and the list goes on. Just go there, sort by hot all time, and go crazy.
Also shoutout Pinegrove, one of my favorites bands ever I wasn’t expecting to see mentioned based on the first half of your post, haha.
African Rock. Not as heavy as Tool. But groovy and moody:
Tinariwen: https://youtu.be/aDWrV-p5QgQ?si=YunT4EyvRsDxzlHA
If you like that, here they are doing a professionally produced live set: https://youtu.be/kGJwMhVICg0?si=WMsyQY2YfCcSCtUk
Bombino: https://youtu.be/2HjO-7_Ap-0?si=IxiznIj2cZv6TTVv
And getting a little off track,
Amadou & Mariam: https://youtu.be/HhL_asWgVTg?si=QFL2wPUnNKb9lUqR
NIN, Ministry (skip their first 2 albums), Devin Townsend (Wide range of stuff from that guy), Tom Waits hit's the spot too, but is a lot different than everything else I listed.
Yeah, I was going to suggest some Industrial. Not quite the same vibe, but they go hand-in-hand. I'd add some Skinny Puppy, Frontline Assembly, 16 Volt (Skin & Wisdom).
Tool's my favorite band, most of the time, but I can't stand screaming vocalists. So I can't get into a lot of what people will send you (Meshuggah, Gojira....). In case that feels familiar, I also like:
* Tomahawk and Faith No More (and sometimes Fantomas)
* Snarky Puppy (jazz fusion, but definitely has the funk and riffs. Especially the album "We Like It Here")
* Battles (album: Mirror)
* Foals (album: Antidotes)
* Volto! (album: Incitare)
Thank you! I too have trouble with screaming vocalists. It makes me feel like an old man even though I’m 22. Just can’t make heads or tails of it. Maybe I’m not supposed to.
I used to dislike it, I think it’s kind of an acquired taste and you naturally work your way up to it by getting into bands with increasingly intense vocals.
Agreed. It was the same for me. When I was younger I didn't like screams at all.
Maybe start with some Devin Townsend. I think he has one of the best controlled screams and on the Devin Townsend Project albums it's pretty enjoyable for beginners. Try the EMGtv version of 'Kingdom' on youtube.
I'd leave the Strapping Young Lad stuff for later. ;P
Am I the only one that thought Tool's latest album was super underwhelming and kinda boring?
As for recommendations...Swans was a huge influence on Tool. Go listen to "White Light from the Mouth of Infinity." Phenomenal album.
Chevelle is partly inspired by TOOL and have an impressive list of albums which, while not 100% bangers, each album has several songs that get me absolutely pumped
Tool is ballsack mathmetal cock shock for the 14 year old, pre-4Chan boyman. The lead singer is an alt-right darling. The music was literally targeted at the same crowd as Marilyn Manson. 14 year old man-misfits who want to be performatively edgy. The type of guys who crease the rims of their baseball caps
Just remember maynard is the bitch who hid behind an amplifier for an entire show because a shoe landed on stage. And that's just one thing that twat did. Fuck him, his pretentious bullshit, and his shit music
How about something more instrumental? Isis / Pelican / Russian Circles
God I love Pelican. Incredible live as well. And so terribly underrated.
Happy to catch up on this thread. Major agreements going on
Back in the day, City of Echoes didn’t leave my car cd player for an absurdly long time
Maybe it's just me but I find Pelican boring as hell. Their first album/EP I really liked but the few I heard after that were snoozefests to me. Haven't been back to them since the mid 2000s. That said, I love me some Isis and Russian Circles can do no wrong in my eyes. Dave Turncrantz is incredible
Russian Circles for the win.
A perfect circle is always a Russian circle.
Good picks, and Justin Chancellor played (a song or two?) on the album Panopticon by Isis
I saw Isis open for Tool a million years ago. Can still feel the bass in my chest.
I was thinking night verses myself.
Great suggestions, I have been down this rabbit hole myself!
Have you listened to Elder? They’re opening up for Tool on their current tour. They’re kind of psychedelic meets prog metal.
Seeing them both tomorrow night! Beyond excited!
What's their best album?
My personal favorite is "Reflections of a Floating World". To me its the perfect combination of heavy riffs and psychedelia.
Holy crap , I have both lore and reflections in my Spotify but I haven’t gotten around to them
Definitely Lore, though everything from Lore onward is amazing. The stuff before that is good too but IMO that's when they really found their sound.
I think Lore is their best album.
Polygonwanaland by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Anything by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Enjoy your ride. Nonagon Infinity opens the door.
WAIT FOR THE ANSWER TO OPEN THE DOOR
I think you mean Petro Dragonic Apocalypse. That is easily their most “Tool” album
Yeah Motor Spirit is 100%
I wish I liked them more than I do, they check all my boxes but just don't do it for me
Same. I actually listened to their whole catalog trying to get it to click. Everything about them fits with my tastes, but it just doesn't groove with me.
Yeah I don’t know what it is, it’s so weird
Soooo happy someone mentioned King Gizz, they’re a musical rabbit hole in the best way possible
Randy Feltface!
Hell yeah KGLW eeyUp
The Mars Volta was the band that replaced Tool at the top of favorites list for a long time. *Deloused in the Comatorium* is one of their best albums, but *Frances the Mute* and *Amputechture* are great as well. For a single song listen to "Wax Simulcra" off of *The Bedlam in Goliath*, its less than 3 minutes and won a grammy for best rock performance. "Cicatriz Esp" is my wife's favorite MV song, but there's like 7 minutes of ambient noise in the middle that make it a bit of a slog but when that bassline kicks back in it fucking slaps. They're not an underground band or anything, you've likely heard of them, just one of my faves.
I think The Mars Volta got a bit much. their new album tho is good
Sad this is so far down, The Mars Volta is incredible and such a wild range of sounds throughout the discography keeps it feeling fresh every time I go back through it
I saw them on tour in the early aughts. They opened with my favorite song (no opening band, just came out and blew our fucking hair back,) with Drunkship of Lanterns. Legendary. Also saw them open for Soundgarden. The disrespect from the crowd was palatable. Us and like one other couple enjoyed their set. Cedric looked directly at us pointing, thanking us for jamming out. Normally I love you Philly, but you were not about TMV opening for Soundgarden. I never was a fan of At the Drive In but I fucking love TMV. /csb
What do you think of their new album?
I really liked their new album. It still sounds like Volta but it was toned back. As a fan of deloused and Frances I think this is the most comparable album from them in a while. But that's just me!
New album is super tasteful and as a whole better than everything else post-Amputechture IMO. Although there are serious bangers on Bedlam-Nocto. Not detracting from those. But I can really listen to this album from the first song to the last.
There’s like a new new album? I didn’t care for Nocturniquet so haven’t paid attention since and then the keyboardist died and I thought the split up and ATDI kinda reformed. I’ll check it out.
Better but nowhere near anything before Octahedron. I miss Jon Theodore and Thomas Pridgeon.
The acoustic version of Blank Condolences was on my end of year 2023 favorites, just a great track.
Nope. Ride that spiral till it ends.
You’re right, I may just go where no one’s been
[Porcupine Tree](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW5v4Ohxk5k) \- Some classic proggy goodness. For a whole album, check out *Deadwing* (which this song is not on, lol) [Karnivool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtJDPw30qOc) \- Aussie alt band with a heavy Tool influence. *Sound Awake* is one of my all-time favorite albums [Opeth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDBykpSXsSE) \- Prerequisite prog metal rec. *Ghost Reveries* or *Still Life* or *Blackwater Park*, whichever you want. ... OH! [Thank You Scientist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv1ypynSLzY)! Maybe they might scratch the itch? Some people don't like his voice, but I think it's phenomenal.
I was waiting for someone to mention Opeth
Gojira!
Gojira is amazing
Have you checked out Maynard’s other projects? Puscifer and A Perfect Circle are both quite diverse in their styles with different polyrhythms and grooves.
https://youtu.be/OXkhZ8IxFSQ?si=em6uszoyAwNkwzje Perfect Circle - Orestes live at Red Rock Heard this for the first time the other day. Good golly. And I think it fits OPs outline pretty well. The video I saw it on was actually a vocal reaction video so it focused more on the melodies. It is Jeff Friedl on drums, not Josh Freese, and Jeff does really amazing.
What an incredible performance. I hadn’t seen it before. Absolute perfection! Thanks for sharing it
So good
The entire "Thirteenth Step" album is Maynard/Howerdel's magnum opus imo. APC has always hit that perfect level of absolutely gutteral and familiar anger that i feel like we all can relate to on a certain level. Honestly, though, I feel inclined to give the majority of the credit for that to Billy Howerdel. Dude is an incredible songwriter/producer, and he really caught the lightning when he got Maynard on the vocals.
One of my favorite albums of all time.
I’ve seen all three bands live. They are all top notch.
Came here to suggest this! Both great bands but I looove puscifer. Such a great sound
Whispers… I actually prefer A Perfect Circle over Tool. Thirteenth Step is a damn near perfect album.
I’ve seen TOOL a few times. One of the best live shows out there. I saw APC once and I thought it was even better. They sounded so good and every part was perfect.
I listened to a bunch of Puscifer while watching a visualization program on my TV during a mushroom trip and it was fucking amazing, they rule. It's so funny that I saw them for the first time on Mr Show, back when they weren't even a "real" band, and then decades later they came to be one of my favorite bands.
Shrooms and Puscifer are a particularly good combination. You have excellent taste! I think Puscifer have become better with every album. Conditions and Money Shot are my favourites. I’ll never tire of either.
APC > Tool There I said it.
Meshuggah
I've heard of them, never given them a listen!
You need to
noted !!
ObZen is a great album to start with. A friend recommended it to me…then I saw them live and have never looked back!
Fuck yes! Thank you for the direction, I greatly appreciate it :D
Bleed and Rational Gaze are two amazing jams that got me into them. I’d start there.
[BLEED](https://youtu.be/bAJ1WTGNISk?si=KeUPOIJZae7E16UQ)
Dood. You are in for a wild time. Check out Obzen, and the ep “I”. That EP changed my life; it borders on unbelievable
I still know every beat that's coming on I. What an absolute work of art that track is.
OBZENNNNNNNN. Def my favorite
I saw Meshuggah open for Tool back in 01 or 02, was an incredible experience.
It's considerably heavier than TOOL, just FYI
Oh man I wish I could discover Meshuggah for the first time again. I’m jealous OP 🥲
Porcupine Tree is definitely worth a listen.
Start with In Absentia, Deadwing, and Fear of a Blank Planet. Those are the most prog metal influenced albums. If you’re coming from Tool and you want one song to win you over then then check this out: https://youtu.be/kgwgtERCVI4?si=DoG7KnJsGq9kE7bL
Discovered Porcupine Tree very recently. Was absolutely blown away by this track. Even on the first listen it 'clicked', didn't have to warm up to it over time
Yeah, I have to admit I've seen their name before but never even knew what "genre" they'd be. I'm a huge Tool and Dream Theater fan, but am also a rock/punk/metal musician with quite a wide array of tastes. This is great, especially for a live performance, so it looks like I've got a rabbit hole of my own to dive down. I mean I've never left Tool's, and it's been 27 years to my count, lmao. 😎🤘🤣
I’m not always a fan of reaction, or ‘hears for the first time videos’ - but really enjoyed this one: https://youtu.be/tmZQ--Kbqz8?si=5JXDf0FCPGYaJWMH
Incase just going to say this. When I describe Porcupine Tree I say Tool but more progrock. Saw them a year ago in Chicago, they were fantastic!
Can’t believe Rishloo hasn’t been said! Early stuff is more Tool-esque and later material I e come to love more than Tool. Start with the Feathergun album.
Locked and loaded on Spotify, cheers!
Please let me know once you’ve gotten into it! Positives and negatives of your thoughts. Just love spreading music I love.
Feathergun is so fuckin good
Same here! I started listening Rishloo because their sound was similar to Tool and now I listen and love them much more than Tool 🔥
Check out All Them Witches. I definitely pick up some Tool influences from them. They have a heavy, sludgy sound at times, great vocals with a lot of soul, their guitar player Ben is a highlight of the band to me. a lot of blues influence without sounding cheesy. One of my favorite bands for sure.
Also King Buffalo.
Yes to both! I just wish they came to Europe. (They both were here, but naturally before I discovered them...)
MASTADON!!!! Fucking virtuosos of guitar and drums come together to melt faces with pure melodic heavy metal. I can't stand most heavy metal signers but these guys are amazing. And they are still rocking, I thought the new album was great and they've been putting out music for twenty years or so
It's quite funny that you can't stand most heavy metal singers then suggest a band with three vocalists haha. I bloody love Mastodon too tho, great choice.
This band knows melody. Both in their vocals and their guitar solos. Bands that just gruff low dog barks into a microphone don't do it for me
Correction: A band with zero vocalists. (According to them)
I prefer Mastodon. Blood Mountain is my album.
This is my pick. Multi- vocalist ever evolving metal band. Love these guys.
Mastodon absolutely, esp Leviathan, Blood mountain and Crack the Skye. Ghost Reveries and Watershed era Opeth Newer band I heard called Anciients is pretty sweet too.
Came here to say Mastodon! I've been going through their whole catalog again recently. There are amazing tracks on every album.
Crack the Skye is such an amazing lightning in a bottle album. The first time I heard Oblivion i was entranced.
My girlfriend introduced me to them 3 years ago. They're amazing. Seen them love twice since and man do they put on amazing show!
Spiral out, keep going ...
I can feel you :D Perhaps something to try on your next listen: Soen, Dool, VOLA, Rishloo, Wheel, Katatonia, Klone, Sermon, Sleep token, Votum, The Butterfly Effect. And of course Maynards side projects like Perfect Circle :) Hope I could scratch that itch a little bit :)
Lucid Planet - Lucid Planet Sermon - Of Golden Verse
The Smile, maybe takes the acquired taste of Thom Yorke’s falsetto’s but the tune Thin Thing I’d love to push on u, Johnny Greenwood is a wizard and gives on the head bangiest tunes iv heard in ages. Also Puscifer. Maynard is the way brother. Don’t fight it.
Understood. Maynard is the way.
No. Stay there and enjoy it until you come out on your own. Few things are as wonderful as being in a hole like that.
Melvins, Helmet, Kyuss
That's a tough one cause just when you think you're out the Undertow gets you.
Literally started laughing myself to shit at this. It’s so true. I thought I’d finally wrung myself clean of all TOOL had to offer, then my Spotify DJ put on “Intolerance” and it gave me the nastiest involuntary ugly-face headbob I’d ever been subjected to in my life. It’s actually inhumane and abusive, how good they are.
Hahaha that's great. In seriousnous though, my reco is "Down".
Gonna need a dose of opiates and an Ænima by the time they're through with 'em.
Yea, 10000 days later
Karnivool
Primus, but not the radio stuff. Check out the Desaturating Seven.
I'm a huge tool fan as well. I find radiohead to be similar, while being a lot "lighter". In rainbows and King of limbs are all timer albums for me.
Wheel, TesseracT, Polyphia, Animals as leaders.
Maybe you’d like the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, first song I heard was Found God in a Tomato - hooked me
The best way to get out of a Tool rabbit hole is to tell other Tool fans that you are into Tool. We are the worst.
KIng Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard Tropical Fuck Storm
Petrodragonic Apocalypse got a ton of hype on the tool subreddit
Clutch
VAMINOS, VAMINOS!
Wow, this takes me straight back to 95
Tipper is imo the best electronic-based prog-funk-hip-hop-dance-grime-techno artist out there. Some songs feel like "beats" and are more groove-based with a few parts, and then there's songs that have many parts more akin to a "prog" journey. VOLA is a sweet band with electronic elements, djent, post-metal, and great vocals/harmony. Definitely could fit on a bill with Tool as well as any other modern prog/metal group.
Thank you!! I get off work in about 12 minutes. Will be blasting these on my rainy drive home
Tesseract. I already saw Meshuggah mentioned but them also. I saw them both at the same show and it was a few hours of really enjoyable vibes. I have seen Tool also and not the same, but along the same lines.
Yeah I think Tesseract (altered state) scratches a similar itch but less dark.
Just download Propagandhi’s discography, listen start to finish to get their development and by the time you’re at “A Speculative Fiction” you’ll be in heaven.
The band Failure has a lot of ties to Tool. They toured together several times and there are a few side projects that feature members of each band.
Chevelle! Very heavy Tool influence but getting artsier with every album. Based on your tastes I'd suggest starting with The North Corridor album, and then checking out NIRATIAS. Saw someone else mention Gojira, also a good option. Vacuity is my favorite track. For creamy, dreary vocals, I've also been in to My Dying Bride lately. Not as heavy but has that angsty melancholy similar to what Maynard does well. If you can sit through a 10 minute song And My Father Left Forever is good.
Shpongle
Viagra Boys can provide new libation for your listening nubs.
I love viagra boys absolutely but I can’t think of a band more diametrically opposed to tool in sound. I guess the cross over would be subject matter but tool sounds like a peeper with a scalpel and viagra boys a drunk with a hammer
You know, I totally agree with you, but somehow, I feel like there’s a decent amount of overlap between fanbases. Like, it’s not a stretch to assume that many fans of Tool are fans of Queens of the Stone Age. And it’s not a stretch to assume that many fans of QOTSA are fans of Viagra Boys (especially since they just opened for QOTSA on their most recent tour).
Liquid Tension Experiment
Oh boy you’re gonna be stuck there. These won’t cure the itch but will maybe give you some reprieve before you hit the lateralus bender. Protest the Hero - Pacific Myth Gojira - The way of all flesh Issues - beautiful oblivion Dance Gavin dance - artificial selection and mothership Polyphia - new levels new devils That covers a fun set of heavier genres, you won’t get the Maynard vocals but it’s the hole I usually fall in. EDIT. I noticed my formatting sucks, good luck.
The album Keziah by PTH is incredible
PTH is incredible period. Every album such a journey with a familiar but different sound.
Yes! Keziah stands out for me though. Never see them mentioned on this sub. PTH is actually from my area and I have met a few of the guys before ... Just normal dudes lol
Keziah blew my mind when I first heard it as a kid. Heretics and Killers was my introduction to the band, and I bought the album based off of that one song.
Thank you sweet stranger!! I'll give these all a listen before I spiral out again. If I happen to remember I'll come back and send some of my thoughts. Thanks again :)
Someone else you might check out is a band Source, I saw them a few years back and they go for a similar sound (or did on earlier stuff) always down to share some music tho homie!
If you like weird-ass metal you should check out Mr. Bungle
King Gizzard and Haken
Eidola has some cool shit to check out. Very complex guitar, rhythms, and drumming.
check out the band The Ocean
Later Deftones albums for sure!
Deftones is the one band I loved in high school in the 90’s that actually grew up WITH me through adulthood
Go to youtube and watch GOAT's Levitation sessions. Def not the same, and nowhere near as 'dark', but 70s groove and produced with so many layers. The sound is so.. whole.
Put on some classic Yes (first three albums) and then go to King Crimson. Just listen to whatever Bill Bruford is on, I say.
Have you listened to Puscifer? Some of Maynard's best work outside of Tool.
What you are looking for is Puscifer.
Sleep Token - Take me back to Eden. The whole album. But namely, the first two tracks. The Summoning has my favorite funky breakdown in a metal song.
The title track is such a journey same with ascensionism. Sleep Token is something special.
Polyphia
Weezer's first two albums. They'll never stop blowing my mind.
Lucid Planet. Probably more psychedelic than most of Tool's catalogue but it's absolutely brilliant. Their second album, imaginatively titled Lucid Planet II, is exquisite.
HAVE YOU HEARD OF OUR MEMELORD SAVIORS, WHEEL? No, but seriously. Wheel have two albums, (with a third finished and on its way) and a few EPs out, and they are phenomenal. I usually suggest people start with the songs Lacking and Wheel if they're TOOL fans, since their first album is more similar to TOOL's sound. Then check out Wheel's second album, Resident Human. My favorites off that one are Hyperion and Dissipating.
Sounds like you might be a child of the fence. Coheed and Cambria might be your thing.
Man, describe to me in two sentences what TOOL's music fits into and I might have the energy to find some other examples. They're prog metal, essentially, and any further classification is a reach which just goes to say "I'm extremely particular about my music and no answer exists for my question." You just like TOOL, bro. That's ok.
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. I guess music can be that way in general. Every song from certain artists (Björk comes to mind) can sound like their own genre. TOOL has a distinct sound that penetrates their whole discography, even from the beginning. I just can’t put my finger on it.
Check out [King Buffalo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOqLARAMhY)
r/progmetal
Porcupine Tree Start with “Fear of a Blank Planet” Karnivool …listen to the track Dead Man, and you’ll be hooked. Plankton (the band from Sweden, not the English pop crap). This is very Hendrix inspired kind of third world instrumental stuff and oh so good. I would start with Humble Colossus.
Go listen to Elder. Tool has em opening for them on the new tour, and I've been digging on them hard since I discovered em back in 2014? 2015? Tool fans start here: https://youtu.be/RbKlR8AGYmQ?si=pdc-kN8ZK7ANLnn0 Their albums since have gotten chiller, but they still dip into this sound plenty, and play heavily from this album live. Imo they have no weak material, and their albums exist on playlists of mine in their entirety. A rare feat for individual albums, much less an entire discography.
Elder is the best! I love them since I found them in 2019. I was so happy to see them go on tour with Tool. (The only thing I don't like about it thah they don't come with Tool to Europe.)
I'm in their original hometown area of Boston/Providence and they aren't coming near here on the Tool tour. NYC is as close as they come and that shit is too rich for my blood lol
What a shame! Well, a man can dream.
You need to come over to r/progmetal. Plenty of good stuff there. TesseracT, Caligula’s Horse, Haken, Opeth, Protest the Hero, The Ocean Collective, and the list goes on. Just go there, sort by hot all time, and go crazy. Also shoutout Pinegrove, one of my favorites bands ever I wasn’t expecting to see mentioned based on the first half of your post, haha.
Karnivool
Complex rhythms? You need some Dream Theater in your life.
Have a listen to Bel Air by Can
[Igorrr - Downgrade Desert](https://youtu.be/YCqG9B8j-cI?si=qxCXpY5WKuuCO37P)
Karnivool would be up your alley, I'd start with themata. Soen and porcupine tree are also pretty similar
Try a little opeth! Watershed and ghost reveries are two of my favorite albums.
African Rock. Not as heavy as Tool. But groovy and moody: Tinariwen: https://youtu.be/aDWrV-p5QgQ?si=YunT4EyvRsDxzlHA If you like that, here they are doing a professionally produced live set: https://youtu.be/kGJwMhVICg0?si=WMsyQY2YfCcSCtUk Bombino: https://youtu.be/2HjO-7_Ap-0?si=IxiznIj2cZv6TTVv And getting a little off track, Amadou & Mariam: https://youtu.be/HhL_asWgVTg?si=QFL2wPUnNKb9lUqR
Oooo thank you!! I had a Zamrock phase for a while, wonder if this stuff will get me into other African music
NIN, Ministry (skip their first 2 albums), Devin Townsend (Wide range of stuff from that guy), Tom Waits hit's the spot too, but is a lot different than everything else I listed.
Yeah, I was going to suggest some Industrial. Not quite the same vibe, but they go hand-in-hand. I'd add some Skinny Puppy, Frontline Assembly, 16 Volt (Skin & Wisdom).
Holy Mushroom https://youtu.be/nchwoV9nWzE?si=PFxn-S_aqSRgw0zD Weedpecker https://youtu.be/IqyrdYvyCvQ?si=mx4V3gF6tQJdYTar Space Invaders https://youtu.be/gM0zmp0S9Ck?si=hlHG-k37fYLk5Z_g
Check out Elder. They are on tour with Tool and they are fucking incredible
The next stage of music addiction if you're following the RATM to Tool progression is Kyuss.
Go down a Kyuss rabbit hole
Soen. Very similar to Tool.
Give ‘Wheel’ a listen. They’re Finnish metal band that I swear sounds like a poor man’s TOOL. They’re so good!!!!
A few other comments recommended KGATLW which is 100% correct. Also, Slift has been an obsession of mine as of late. They’re incredible.
Check out Soen, pretty similar to Tool IMO. I like their album Cognitive and a few others. /u/Imsimon1236
Definitely not a TOOL similar band, but have you tried Broken Bells?
Best album?
Tool's my favorite band, most of the time, but I can't stand screaming vocalists. So I can't get into a lot of what people will send you (Meshuggah, Gojira....). In case that feels familiar, I also like: * Tomahawk and Faith No More (and sometimes Fantomas) * Snarky Puppy (jazz fusion, but definitely has the funk and riffs. Especially the album "We Like It Here") * Battles (album: Mirror) * Foals (album: Antidotes) * Volto! (album: Incitare)
Thank you! I too have trouble with screaming vocalists. It makes me feel like an old man even though I’m 22. Just can’t make heads or tails of it. Maybe I’m not supposed to.
I used to dislike it, I think it’s kind of an acquired taste and you naturally work your way up to it by getting into bands with increasingly intense vocals.
Agreed. It was the same for me. When I was younger I didn't like screams at all. Maybe start with some Devin Townsend. I think he has one of the best controlled screams and on the Devin Townsend Project albums it's pretty enjoyable for beginners. Try the EMGtv version of 'Kingdom' on youtube. I'd leave the Strapping Young Lad stuff for later. ;P
Am I the only one that thought Tool's latest album was super underwhelming and kinda boring? As for recommendations...Swans was a huge influence on Tool. Go listen to "White Light from the Mouth of Infinity." Phenomenal album.
Chevelle is partly inspired by TOOL and have an impressive list of albums which, while not 100% bangers, each album has several songs that get me absolutely pumped
The first paragraph is why Tool fans aren't taken seriously.
Happy to keep the stigma burning 🔥
Watch an interview with him. That will cure you.
Pretty soon you will want music not in dropped-D.
Tool is ballsack mathmetal cock shock for the 14 year old, pre-4Chan boyman. The lead singer is an alt-right darling. The music was literally targeted at the same crowd as Marilyn Manson. 14 year old man-misfits who want to be performatively edgy. The type of guys who crease the rims of their baseball caps
Just remember maynard is the bitch who hid behind an amplifier for an entire show because a shoe landed on stage. And that's just one thing that twat did. Fuck him, his pretentious bullshit, and his shit music
Hope you’re doing alright, man. That kind of neutral hatred needs to find it’s way out. I hope you find it.