Over the past two years, Tool has been playing an instrumental called "Descending" live. The song runs about four minutes long, and according to guitarist Adam Jones in an interview with The Press Enterprise, it's not the full song. Jones likens the live version of "Descending" to a movie trailer, and says it's just the obscure bits of the track.
"The best way to explain it is that it's like when a new movie is coming out. It's a really anticipated movie, so the first trailer is really obscure and you're like, 'Wait, what?' That's what we’re doing.
"We took the song that is finished, it's called 'Descending,' and we just took the most obscure bits and put it together to give a little taste of what's coming."
As far as the new album goes, they're still taking their time.
"There are a good variety of fans that are very passionate about the next record we have coming out.
"They're always like 'But it's been 10 years!' but we just go by our own rules in what we do and we'd like to do another record – it has to be right for everyone and the timing has to be right.
"For those fans, any taste of anything that's obscure and they're wondering if it's something for the new record or they're looking for a sign.
"It's nice that they’re passionate about it. That's a very good thing. It's rewarding to have your fans wanting more, but we just have to do it in our own time and by our own rules."
So maybe next year, maybe another 10 years from now – Adam Jones isn't saying. Though it's interesting that "Descending" isn't really the full track, because now that just opens up a whole separate door of possibilities for what it'll really sound like in the end.
