Tool’s long-awaited new studio album Fear Inoculum was released in August and came 13 year after the launch of their last record 10,000 Days.
But while the wait was long, it could have been even longer as producer Joe Barresi says the studio almost burned down during recording sessions.
He tells Kerrang's Inside Track podcast: “We were tracking – we always like to set up the room so it’s visual. Drummer Danny Carey’s got some geometry thing behind him and there’s always a PA and candles. It’s very vibey.
“I remember drum tech Bruce Jacoby was in front of the console, and I saw this look of panic in his face. And I was like, ‘What’s going on?’
“All of a sudden, he bolts out of the control room and gets behind Danny’s drum kit, where, I guess Dan was playing with such power that one of the candles fell over on his floor tom and started burning the floor tom, so the head went on fire.
“There’s sprinklers in the ceiling, so we were trying to get the fire out before the sprinklers went off and the whole recording would be ruined. So that was one of the most insane moments – Danny almost burning down the studio.”
Tool are currently on tour across North America in support of Fear Inoculum and kicked off the road trip last month when they played in front of 60,000 people at Sacramento's Aftershock Festival – a bill which also featured Slipknot, Korn, Blink-182 and more.
