Ænima by Tool

Ænima, Tool's second album, arrived through Zoo in 1996, and it's a long, dark, heavy trip down a rabbit hole with no guarantee of a way back up. Produced by the band with David Bottrill at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood and The Hook in North Hollywood, it's the first Tool record with Justin Chancellor on bass, stepping in after Paul D'Amour's exit the year before, alongside Adam Jones on guitar, Danny Carey on drums and Maynard James Keenan on vocals.

The sound is enormous and serpentine. "Stinkfist" rides a grinding, lurching groove that seems to tighten around your chest, "Forty Six & 2" builds and twists as if it's trying to shed its skin, and "H." broods and churns before it bursts. "Ænema" snarls and seethes, and "Eulogy" takes its sweet time building to a crushing weight. Carey's drumming, all rolling tribal patterns and odd accents, holds together music that's constantly shifting under your feet.

It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and went triple platinum by 2003, and "Ænema" took the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 1998. It has since turned up high on lists of the most influential and greatest metal albums, and its edge hasn't dulled one bit.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.