Undertow [Vinyl LP]

UNDERTOW is an example of nimble heavy metal in the angtsy/artsy tradition of Jane's Addiction. Tool favors medium tempos, which gives several of the group's songs a modern-day Black Sabbath feel, but fortunately lead singer Maynard James mostly steers clear of the usual quasi-operatic yowling favored by most metal frontmen--he's a remarkably expressive singer in a genre not usually so noted. As for the band's world-view, it's pretty much summed up in the unsentimentally named "Prison Sex": "Do unto others, what has been done to you."