Puscifer released the live album Global Probing digitally on November 17, 2023. Recorded at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center in Prescott, Arizona, its 16 songs captured the band’s Existential Reckoning tour, which paired the music with a fictional world of agents, aliens and recurring characters.
“The Humbling River” was among the catalog selections woven into the newer material. Puscifer also released an official performance video of the song from the accompanying concert film, giving listeners a view of the same show preserved on the album.
The band had already presented Existential Reckoning in full in a 2020 concert film. Global Probing followed the music into its touring life, with Maynard James Keenan and Carina Round on vocals, Mat Mitchell on guitar and synthesizers, Greg Edwards on bass and Gunnar Olsen on drums. The filmed show also featured sketches involving Special Agent Dick Merkin and Billy D, making the timing between songs and comedy part of the performance.
The staging affected practical equipment choices, too. In a November 2022 Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, Mitchell demonstrated lightweight, headless Kiesel guitars that let him quickly move the instrument aside to play synthesizer. He also explained the move to an Axe-Fx III processor: the growing rig had become complicated, and the band wanted a stage free of amplifiers, cabinets and pedalboards. Wireless equipment gave the musicians more freedom to move while keeping that setup clear.
Keenan described another part of that preparation in an October 2023 interview with Loudwire Nights. “We sharpened the knife over the course of a year of touring,” he said. The recording came from the tour’s second leg, after changes to the stage setup. By his estimate, the band was about 80 percent through its planned dates when the cameras captured the show. That gave the musicians time to refine the songs and the jokes together, with a different presentation from the one audiences had seen on the first leg.
The set’s emphasis remained firmly on Existential Reckoning, Puscifer’s fourth studio album, released in 2020. Eleven of its 12 songs appear on Global Probing, with “A Singularity” absent from the audio release. The running order reshuffles that material, putting “Postulous” and “Fake Affront” immediately after opener “Bread and Circus.” “The Remedy” and “Conditions of My Parole” broaden the set beyond the 2020 record. “Bedlamite” retains its place at the end, closing both the studio album and the live soundtrack.
The film and album reached audiences in separate stages. Global Probing premiered as a streaming event on October 26, 2023, with an initial viewing window through November 1. The digital soundtrack followed, and the film subsequently became available to rent or purchase. The audio runs roughly 78 minutes; the film runs 99 minutes and includes the visual and comic material.
Physical editions extended that release beyond the original streaming event. Vinyl had initially been offered in connection with the Halloween presentation, while wider retail vinyl editions followed on March 1, 2024. The concert was also issued as a CD/Blu-ray package, keeping its audio and filmed versions together.
