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stare Lateralus emerged after a five-year legal tussle with Tool's former label.[3]

In January 2001, the band announced that their new album's title would be Systema Encéphale and provided a 12-song tracklist with titles such as "Riverchrist", "Numbereft", "Encephatalis", "Musick", and "Coeliacus".[4] One month later, they revealed the real title, Lateralus, supposedly named after a human leg muscle and lateral thinking,[5] along with a completely different tracklist.[6] In spite of this, many fake tracks attributed to Tool appeared on file-sharing networks such as Napster.

The album is 78 minutes and 58 seconds long. Drummer Danny Carey said, "The manufacturer would only guarantee us up to 79 minutes... We thought we'd give them 2 seconds of breathing room."[7] He aspired to create longer songs like those by artists he grew up listening to. The band had segues to place between songs, but had to cut out a lot during the mastering phase.[7] The CD was mastered using HDCD technology.

The album was a commercial success in the United States. It was revered by critics and fans alike, and was named Kerrang!'s album of the year in 2001. Tool received the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for the song "Schism".[8]

Two music videos were produced: "Schism" (with the short ambient segue "Mantra" at the beginning) and "Parabol/Parabola". These were subsequently released as two separate DVD singles on December 20, 2005, featuring remixes of the tracks by Lustmord.

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