Anyway, here’s that deathcore cover of Tool’s Sober that you never asked for

(Image credit: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images)

Ohio-based extreme metal band Backbiter have released a deathcore version of Sober by Tool, for some reason.

The cover was released to streaming services via Midwest Misery Records on May 18 and sounds like deathcore, stripping away the majestic vocals of the Tool classic and adding plenty of guttural growls, beatdowns and dissonance.

Whether that’s a good or bad thing, that’s up to you.

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Tool released the original version of Sober as a single in 1993, promoting their debut album Undertow.

The track has become one of the prog metal megastars’ signature songs and currently boasts upwards of 132 million streams on Spotify.

Only Schism (from 2001’s Lateralus) and The Pot (from 2006’s 10,000 Days) have been listened to more on the platform.

Guitarist Adam Jones explained the themes of Sober in a rare interview with Guitar School in 1994.

“The song and video are based on a guy we know who is at his artistic best when he’s loaded,” he said.

“A lot of people give him shit for that. I don’t tell people to do or not do drugs. You can do what you want, but you have to take responsibility for what happens. If you become addicted and a junkie, well, that’s your fault.”

Tool are currently in the middle of a European tour, which will continue tonight (June 11) at Tauron Arena in Kraków, Poland.

Metal Hammer journalist Rich Hobson attended the band’s concert at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on May 30 and awarded it four stars.

“While it’s anyone’s guess when Tool when next be back in the UK after this – hopefully with a new album in tow, if this year’s Metal Hammer cover is anything to go by – the fact remains that even if Tool were to play six nights a week, every week, they’d still offer one of metal’s most unique and iconoclastic live experiences,” wrote Hobson.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

See the remaining Tool European tour dates below.

Sober - YouTube

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Tool 2024 European tour dates:

Jun 11: Kraków Tauron Arena, Poland
Jun 13: Budapest BudapestAréna, Hungary
Jun 14: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Jun 20: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Jun 22: Copenhagen CopenHell, Denmark
Jun 25: Stockholm Tele2 Arena, Sweden
Jun 27: Oslo Tons Of Rock, Norway

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.