Opiate

TOOL emerged fully formed from a Los Angeles loft in 1991, highlighted by unorthodox time signatures and riffs that made grunge look flannel-soft—not to mention the sight of Maynard James Keenan, a lurching, shirtless vocalist prowling the stage and plumbing emotional depths. With only a handful of shows and a 4-track demo tape under their belt, TOOL recorded their heaviest tunes—four studio, two live—for a six-song EP. It\'s their least dynamic release, but easily their most immediate and bludgeoning, full of the open-ended, mysterious, passionate soul-rending of opener \"Sweat\": \"I\'m sweating/And breathing/And staring and thinking/And sinking deeper.\"

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In retrospect, Opiate seems a little haphazard, but it's possible to hear the seeds of Tool's oppressively bleak, cerebral metal in such cuts as "Sweat" and "Opiate."