In a new interview with Yahoo! Music, Tool guitarist Adam Jones has confirmed that the multi-million dollar lawsuit with their insurance company is now resolved, freeing the group to continue work on the follow up to 10,000 Days.

“We moved over to a North LA courthouse and we had a brand-new judge, who was fantastic. You know what his name was? Randy Rhodes!” Randy Rhoads (no relation) was a guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. “I knew the power of metal, and my appreciation of metal was someday going to be like a guardian angel,” Jones said. “We would have had an album out a long time ago,” he also added, saying that the group felt “discouraged and distracted” by the lawsuit.

Another roadblock in the band’s road to a new album according to Jones was a member of the band dealing with a “do-or-die, serious” illness. “When you’re trying to write music and you have that eating away at you — this person you’re married to and you love and hate at the same time has something they’re dealing with that’s out of their control — it’s distracting.”

Jones confirmed the group has one track finished and expects to complete another 10. “Some of it’s really heavy, some of it’s complex and some is more atmospheric, but it’s definitely Tool,” he said. As for a release date, he cautioned that the band isn’t setting deadlines for themselves. “We’re writing and working hard, but we’ve gotten to a point where we’re relaxed and we’re meeting occasionally to get the writing done instead of every day. But I feel like every day we work on the songs is a productive day and we’re getting closer and closer to finishing them.”