Talk and gossip about a new album from tool has been going on for a while now. While fans anxiously await it’s release, actual updates have been minimal and sparse. However, while singer Maynard James Keenan recently said that Tool is taking their time with recording, it would appear that a decent amount of progress was made this past Thanksgiving.

According to the November newsletter posted on the band’s website (and Facebook page), Tool have been working with producer/ engineer Joe Barresi (Isis, Coheed And Cambria, Puscifer, Tomahawk) in their studio. Supposedly, Tool and Barresi have been recording new material with a Studer A827 “Gold Edition” analog tape recorder instead of going the digital route. A picture of said tape recorder being used during the sessions (as seen above) was included with the newsletter.

It’s unclear as to who exactly from the band was present during said recording session. As Keenan pointed out recently, he comes into the writing process after his and band mates jam on ideas. Plus, his other band Puscifer is in the middle of a tour, so Keenan was most likely not present during Tool’s supposed recording session. If this newsletter is accurate, though, then Tool is making a lot of progress on a new album. We may still have to wait a little while longer for an official update (let alone to hear new music), but this is definitely an exciting update.

Update: Not so fast! It turns out that it was actually Danny Carey’s band Volto! who were recording with Joe Barresi last week, and NOT Tool.