Tool signals new material as they process Ozzy Osbourne tribute

Maynard James Keenan and Adam Jones of Tool said in a recent interview that the band is moving toward new material while still processing the emotional aftermath of performing at Back to the Beginning, the July 5 tribute concert in Birmingham for the late Ozzy Osbourne. The pair spoke about the tribute, their Black Sabbath cover and the slow, sometimes stop-start nature of Tool’s creative work during an appearance on the Loudwire Nights podcast this month.

Jones described the band as actively jamming and preparing to focus, but stopped short of saying a formal writing phase has begun. "We want to get another record out and play, do what we do," he said. "The three of us have been jamming. I do not know if you go, oh, the writing process has started. It is always there. ... But I think we are going to dive deep soon." Keenan offered a terser update. "Writing, I guess," he said.

Those comments sit alongside an earlier statement from bassist Justin Chancellor, who said the instrumental members planned to spend three months in the studio after a March festival appearance in Mexico to organize ideas. Chancellor has suggested new material could arrive within the next two years and...