Although it's been nearly six years since the release of Tool's last album, drummer Danny Carey says that the wait is almost over. In a new interview, Carey says the band plans to enter the studio this June and talks about how the new songs are shaping up thus far.

Tool fans have had to be very patient over the last 15 years -- the band has released just two albums since their 1996 sophomore release 'Aenima.' Late last year vocalist Maynard James Keenan announced that the band had begun writing the follow-up to 2006's '10,000 Days,' leaving many hopeful that the prog metal giants will have a new album out in 2012 -- now it appears that those hopes may just become a reality.

In a recent interview with Vic Firth, Tool's Danny Carey sheds some light on how the band's songwriting process comes together. "We all just get in there and grind 'em out, you know? Sometimes if I come up with a beat the guys will come up with a riff to that," says Carey. "Justin [Chancellor, bass] has really been prolific on this record. He's been coming in with tons of riffs. I usually try to find something to complement it rather than play what he's playing."

A major part of Tool's signature sound is their frequent use of odd time signatures. Carey explains that it's not always easy being the stickman in a band that writes unusually timed songs. "It's kind of confusing sometimes, especially with some the riffs those guys come up with too -- like in 13 or 21 or whatever, we have one in 17 that we're doing now," reveals Carey. "It's coming together soon though. I'm hoping we'll get in the studio by June or July and start tracking, that's the plan anyway."

Once Tool does enter the studio, Carey says that the tracking process usually comes together pretty quickly. "The tracking part I'd say [takes] two to three months then probably a month to mix and master and that's it."

Tool's '10,000 Days' was the band's second consecutive album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart and sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide by the end of 2006.