This month will mark the 30th anniversary of Tool’s first EP, Opiate. It was the first glimpse people got of the post-metal band that would come to expand the notions of sound in hard rock and metal. To celebrate 30 years of the release, Tool — who are currently on tour — are putting out a short film on Blu-Ray with an accompanying 46-page book. They’ve just shared an… uhhh… re-tooled version of “Opiate,” entitled “Opiate²,” and it might just be the best thing you’ll hear today.
For starters, “Opiate²” is an extended version that checks in at nearly ten minutes, but it’s the proggier elements of this new studio recording that really make it pop. The newly reimagined bridge at around the 7-minute mark is when things get really sick. All of the sounds go hushed, except for Adam Jones’ guitar, that peppers into the bars while a distorted Maynard Keenan hypnotically sings the classic lyrics:
“If you want to get your soul to heaven
Trust in me, now don’t you judge or question
You are broken now, but faith can heal you
Just do everything I tell you to do…Jesus Christ, why don’t you come save my life now?
Open my eyes, blind me with your light now”
It’s chill-inducing stuff. And the accompanying video in the deluxe release is made by visual artist Dominic Hailstone and Jones. It’s Tool’s first new video in 15 years.
Listen to “Opiate²” above and pre-order the deluxe release here.
