10 Greatest Metal Bassists Ever
3. Justin Chancellor
Tool has been one of the most complex musical acts to come out of the metal genre. From their philosophical lyrical themes to their complex time signatures, it seems that you need an encyclopedia's worth of knowledge to decipher the entirety of a Tool record.
That being said, the way that Justin Chancellor weaves every unintelligible theme together with his bass is something that is beyond words. While the band started out as a typical metal outfit with Paul D'amour on bass, the band's complex soundscapes were not totally dialed in yet. Once Chancellor came onboard, the band's style went from heavy to transcendent. Across albums like Lateralus and Aenima, Chancellor's bass riffs often became the signature feature of the song along with Maynard James Keenan's vocals, with Adam Jones's guitar seeming like nothing more than a rhythm instrument.
A song like "Schism" has an ever-shifting time signature, but Chancellor's bass is such a presence that you can't help but go along for the ride. Tool's albums have a tendency of tripping the listeners mind up, but Chancellor always brings the much-needed crunch that the band needs to show its true fangs.