That is the absolute worst thing a band can do to build up tension for their new album. And it would actually make me pretty mad. It would completely ruin the whole period of being excited for a new release.
There is something to be said though for being surprised. Imagine if DT announced next Thursday, "Hey, our new album is all done and it is being released tomorrow!" That would be so awesome. Heck, artists like Radiohead and Taylor Swift have dropped albums out of nowhere this century, to large success, so it can work in a big way if you do it right AND if the album is really good. In this day and age, do we really need a 2-3 month buildup of excitement until the actual release? Nah. This isn't 1994 anymore.
In this day and age? Yes. In a day and age where you can always stream everything you want, I think we need it more than 1994 (although I admit I wasn't consciously around back then because I was 1 year old).. If there isn't any build up to any release by any band, music becomes even more inflationary. Stuff just gets thrown out there, "here, you can now listen to our whole new album that we recorded last month". Sure, I am no fan of releasing half an album prior to its release (I even NEVER listen to singles released before the album drops). But releasing stuff without any promotion and notification on streaming services with no physical release at all would kill off a lot of excitement (for me). I love Taylor Swift's folklore and evermore, but I really didn't like that it was released digitally first and on a physical medium months after. Coincidentally, it also collides with the acoustic, "handmade" character of those albums.
Plus an album can be released digitally the day it is mastered. Some bands could do that for people who never intend to buy physical and then a proper physical release later on.
And what about people who don't use streaming services? They are just not able to listen to it for three more months?
Pretty much, Yes. As the people who do use streaming services are the target audience now. And their interests are not in those who do not have streaming services. Whatever makes more money is where their interests will follow.
It's a reason why for physical releases, the musicians/labels/whomever rely on people buying those Deluxe Box Sets. It's why they fancy them up with as much crap to convince people it's worth buying the Boxset for that price. Which is another reason why I laughed and applaud Steven Wilson for even making that 10,000 BP Deluxe Box Set. The Future Bites is an album whose concept is based off consumerism, and music is a big part of consumerism.
Inside Out does a great job at their marketing, it's no wonder why DT decided to go with them. Anticipation is another great marketing strategy, you keep your consumer in that anticipation just long enough then bam, release the kraken. And it draws it up even higher.
Look at BTBAM and how big Colors 2 blew up with their anticipation for their reveal on Liquid Metal. And their hints, of the Color album style of the fonts and background to those announcements. The hype ended up shutting down their site.
I also forgot about Transatlantics epic marketing situation that just so happened to occur because of a personal musical difference. You got 3 dfferent versions of the album to sell, that's 3 different products, and the target audience consumer will definitely buy all 3 albums. And even funnier fan demand got the best, as people did not want to buy the big deluxe box set just for the new ultimate mix. Which resulted in a standalone Blu-ray release.