In April 1993, Tool released their debut LP, Undertow, which set them on a path to becoming highly acclaimed in heavy metal. This album was a huge boost for the genre in a new decade, and Tool paved the way for progressive metal in the mainstream.
That’s part of why Undertow is so highly regarded by both critics and fans. Released at the height of grunge and the early development of pop-punk, Undertow fit into the void between the two. Rock at the time was concerned primarily with themes of alienation, depression, and unfulfilled expectations. There was a general air of misery proliferated by bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The fear and frustration of isolation and stagnation.
Tool was making music about the same stuff, but Nirvana seemed tame in comparison. The misery and aggression rolled off Undertow in waves, a swirling mass of despair. Grunge was starting to go too mainstream, too trendy. Tool appeared with Undertow at just the right time for those who were looking elsewhere.
Tool’s ‘Disgustipated’ Captured the Band’s Live Energy in an Innovative and Destructive Track
The final track on Undertow is particularly interesting. Undoubtedly, Tool is an innovative force in progressive heavy metal. Even a layman can understand that. This becomes evident when faced with the closing track on Undertow, “Disgustipated”.
15 minutes long, and preceded by 59 seconds of silence, “Disgustipated” has been listed in several different ways. Typically, it’s track 69. Tracks 10 through 68 are each one to two seconds of silence. On other pressings, it’s been track 39, track 10, or a hidden track after “Flood”.
The recording process left bullet holes in the wall of a studio room, which are still there even though it’s since been turned into a restaurant. Allegedly, the idea spawned from producer Sylvia Massy. She often had ambitious suggestions for Tool, and they were more than happy to accept them.
The idea for “Disgustipated” was to “buy two old upright pianos and record them while they were being destroyed with sledgehammers and a shotgun,” Massy said in 2018, per Ultimate-Guitar. “They went for that.”
Massy ended up having to engineer an entirely new recording setup to make this work. Allegedly, she drew up a technical blueprint called How to Shoot a Piano, which marked the piano placement, shrapnel spread, and mic placement to get the effect they wanted. Frontman Maynard James Keenan then fired a shotgun at the upright piano. That sound ended up on “Disgustipated”.
Chris Haskett, guitarist with Rollins Band, then took a turn destroying the piano. Henry Rollins may have contributed a haunting spoken word segment on the track “Bottom”, but Haskett gets the credit for the sledgehammer.
Photo by Lindsay Brice/Getty Images
The post This 1993 Metal Track Left Bullet Holes in a Studio Wall and Features ‘Sledgehammer’ As a Production Credit appeared first on VICE.
