TOOL is working on the artwork for its long-awaited new album.

The news of TOOL‘s progress on the follow-up to 2006’s “10,000 Days” was revealed by METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett during a recent interview with New Zealand’s The Rock.

Asked what advice he had for TOOL so that the Maynard James Keenan-fronted outfit could finally finish its new album, Hammett said: “Well, I talk to [TOOL guitarist] Adam Jones quite a bit, and the last thing I knew, he was dealing with artwork. So that is a good sign. If they’re dealing with artwork, it must be close.”

Earlier in the month, TOOL shared a photo of Jones, bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey alongside the new album’s producer, Joe Barresi, and mastering engineer Bob Ludwig, who previously mastered “10,000 Days”.

Although unconfirmed, it appears that the picture was taken at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine. The mastering process is usually the last step, after recording and mixing, before an album gets pressed, released and distributed. TOOL entered the studio exactly one year ago, in March 2018, to begin recording the disc.

Keenan recently said that the band’s fifth full-length album and first in 13 years would likely arrive “between mid-May and mid-July.”

TOOL will play nearly a dozen U.S. shows in May.

Fonte: Blabbermouth.net