The new Tool song, “Fear Inoculum,” is nearly 11 minutes long. It doesn’t have any discernible climax, no catchy hook made for radio, and its lyrics are abstract. And from the what the band’s been saying about the album from whence the song came (same title), the rest of the record isn’t much easier to comprehend, with seven tracks, each longer than ten minutes, and two segues. In other words, you better be ready to sit down with this thing and really dig in before coming to any conclusions about what it is and isn’t.

As such, vocalist Maynard James Keenan is well aware that Fear Inoculum is not going to be for everyone and may even alienate some of the band’s longtime fans. Speaking to Revolver in the latest print edition of the magazine, he spoke about the investment that will be necessary to fully appreciate the album:

“There’s gonna be a lot of people who might not get this album because it does take engagement. if you don’t have the patience for that, you’re probably not gonna get this album.”

Maynard also shared some insight into the general theme of the record, offering:

“I can give you some broad strokes, but I don’t want to ruin the experience for you. I feel like that’s always an individual’s right to process things in the way they wanna process them, and I wouldn’t want to take that from you. “But I can give you pieces. Again, it goes back to experience: I feel like this is [about] wisdom through age, through experience. Hopefully through aging you do find wisdom in some of the things you’ve encountered. Learning from your mistakes, learning from your successes. “So if anything is a broad stroke of this album, it would be embracing where we are right now, acknowledging where we’ve come from and some of the things we’ve grown through.”

Other members of the band expressed similar sentiments on the theme of the album, which you can read here.

Fear Inoculum comes out on August 30th and can be pre-ordered here. A special limited edition version features a 4” HD rechargeable screen with exclusive video footage, charging cable, two-watt speaker, a 36-page booklet and a digital download card. A vinyl edition of the album will be announced soon.