Maynard James Keenan was hesitant to assign a percentage to the process, but did give some insight on how things are coming together on Tool's long awaited fifth studio album.

Things have been awfully quiet in Camp Tool the past few years -- the first we heard of a new album was months ago when Maynard merely said, "We're writing." Maynard expanded on that statement in his latest interview with Loudwire, where the focus was on his new album with Puscifer, but eventually shifted towards the progress of Tool's new record:

"I’m allowing them [the other members of Tool] their space to do what they do, so we’re still in that mode. Even if they told me how close they are to being done, I couldn’t tell you because if I say 60 percent people will start counting down. When it’s done everyone will know. But I haven’t done anything yet. They write forever and then we go in and knock it all out. We’re writing. We’re writing vocals. But nothing’s solid. With Puscifer, there’s ideas and then we’ll record stuff. Then we’ll go back and change stuff and fix stuff and record new stuff before we finally put it all together. But with Tool, we practice jams, but there’s no actual recording going on until it’s time to record."

Maynard then explained how his recently diminished appetite for life on the road will apply to Tool when it comes time to support the release:

"We will tour, but it won’t be the old school dog and pony show of eight months of beating yourself to death. If we can make a living going out for a few weeks a year and keep people satisfied by making sure we play the locations we need to hit...I love to go on the road and play music for people and express myself, but for it to be something where I’m out there to make money, that’s depressing to me. You end up beating yourself up. Who gives a s–t how much money you have if your back hurts so much you can’t stand up. Money’s not the goal. Having fun making the art, that’s the goal. Finding a nice, happy medium. Being healthy and still expressing what you need to express in an effective way, that’s the ideal."

Maynard is currently on tour with Puscifer in support of their recently released 'Conditions of My Parole' LP, click here for dates and watch the band's first ever television performance on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' Halloween night.

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