Fired up by the success of his 2021 side-hustling endeavor, “Brighten,” ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist and grunge icon Jerry Cantrell is back with another solo album. Released on October 18th, 2024, via his own label Double J Music, this 9-track offering is a nice collection of darkly shaded, riff-heavy grunge. ALICE IN CHAINS has not released new music in six years, not after 2018’s “Rainier Fog,” so this quality offering serves as a nice quicker-pick-me-upper for all the starving grunge aficionados. In terms of riffs and the overall mood, these new songs harken back to the classic-era grunge aesthetic, resonating with the thick air of the heavier end of the Seattle sound spectrum of the early 1990s. The darker mood and heavier riffs almost make this effort sound like a sequel to “Degradation Trip” from 20-something years ago rather than Cantrell‘s previous solo effort. The only thing missing is the tortured howling of Layne Staley to make this selection even better; then again, I reckon there can only be one “Dirt” on this timeline – two timeless masterpieces of such caliber might tip the scales of the cosmic equilibrium beyond repair.
Right off the bat, it becomes quite obvious that Cantrell isn’t pulling any punches. The opener, “Vilified,” kicks off with beefy riffs and ALICE-IN-CHAINS-style vocals that rip a hole in the very fabric of time, sending you right back to 1992. (Yeah, if you’re not already aware, I’m a sucker for this sort of sonic sorcery, so I won’t mind having one of the original gangstas citing this deep magic to me – I was there when it was originally written, to paraphrase the famous Narnia meme…)
Okay, if you’re an artist, pilfering your legacy too heavily runs the risk of making you sound like a pastiche of yourself but, here, Cantrell‘s songwriting quill proves to be in pretty sharp condition. Even the “ballads” work wonders. Some of the slower tracks – “Afterglow,” in particular – resonate with the somewhat Americana-esque air of Cantrell‘s previous solo album and echo the solo works of another grunge icon – Chris Cornell. On the same note, the slow-crushing psych-country banger, “Echoes of Laughter,” recalls some of those lysergic gems from SOUNDGARDEN‘s 1996 album “Down on the Upside,” here and there and – better yet! – throw in some robust ALICE IN CHAINS flourishes, too. Yeah, the flannel-wearing Gen-Xers are having a field day with this album, for sure! If you’re not that into sledgehammer-heavy riffs and darkly layered vocals of the AIC variety, you’ll be out of luck with this beast.
Another couple of tracks to trigger nice SOUNDGARDEN flashbacks are “Let It Lie” – especially the part where the guitar drops some delicious flat fifths – and the slow-burning closer, “It Comes.” These killer riffs further assert Cantrell as one of the true elders in the pantheon of riff-lords. So, even if the vintage grunge aesthetic is not exactly something you fancy but quality guitar riffs go right down your alley, you’ll do yourself a favor by checking out this cornucopia of beautiful riffs.
The only banger that does not instantly come off as particularly grungey is the title track, “I Want Blood.” Well, it does resonate with the subtle air of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, or even VELVET REVOLVER – but, as far as I know, puritans do not regard either band as grunge. Yeah, as if it mattered. The song is a high-octane, uptempo riffer – and the tempo is what sets it apart from the rest of the songs on the album. As per the unwritten rules of the genre, the standard tempo for a grunge riffathon is pretty slow – the slower, the better. As a whole, the album grinds in relatively slow tempos, so placing the uptempo banger as third in the selection creates a nice, dynamic momentum.
It’s been 30-something years since the heyday of grunge and, while those classic Seattle albums are still very much cherished not only by the proud members of the original slacker generation but also by other music lovers, it’s not an easy feat to come across new artists tooting the horn these days. Lucky for us, one of the original sages kindly provided us with a banquet of quality grunge! Okay, I’m not exactly sure why this offering could not have been another ALICE IN CHAINS endeavor; then again, looking at the list of guests – Mike Bordin of FAITH NO MORE, Duff McKagan of GUNS ‘N’ ROSES, Robert Trujillo of METALLICA, and Greg Puciato of DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN – I find very few reasons to complain. No doubt, this is a passion project – “for the love of the sport,” as we say in Finland – and it shows.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Vilified
- Off the Rails
- Afterglow
- I Want Blood
- Echoes of Laughter
- Throw Me A Line
- Let It Lie
- Held Your Tongue
- It Comes
Lineup
Jerry Cantrell – guitars, vocals
Greg Puciato – vocals
Duff McKagan – bass
Mike Bordin – drums
Robert Trujillo – bass
Label
Double J Music
Links
https://jerrycantrell.com
https://www.facebook.com/officialjerrycantrell
https://www.instagram.com/jerrycantrell
