TOOL - Fear Inoculum: Every Song Ranked From Worst To Best
6. Culling Voices
Long sections of "Culling Voices" feel more akin to a post-rock track than anything Tool have ever produced before. This is true elsewhere on Fear Inoculum, but the post is never as strong as it is here, with the gentle, cinematic soundscapes suggesting Maynard and co. have spent the past 13 years gorging on Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion records.
"Culling Voices" is Fear Inoculum's most soothing track. It calms your mood after "Descending" has hyped you up, and feels like an essential change of pace - even with the album's interludes. Here, you get some headspace. You can relax your attention throughout the first few sections, even though there's plenty going on under the hood (Carey's percussion adds particularly tasty seasoning), knowing that you're going to need it later on.
But the song isn't all ambience, all of the time. "Culling Voices" gets riffy later on, maintaining the album's slow-building tension/release template, with Adam Jones' chords crashing down with real heft. It's an effective explosion after all the calm, though "Culling Voices" closes with the same sense of stillness that built it up in the first place.