Album Review: Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

When seminal alt-rock behemoths Alice in Chains burst onto the Seattle rock scene with 1990 debut Facelift, it brought a fresh take on heavy metal vocals; Layne Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell's dissonant, layered harmonic voices were a precursor to the embittered grunge movement and are the flagship of a band that after five albums and 26 respectful years are still going strong.

Staley's death in 2002 was a heavy blow but his benchwarmer Wiliam DuVall kept the flame alive and surprised all that thought Staley's instantly recognisable vocals couldn't be supplanted. That it was done with nary a fistshake from the AIC community is testament to the importance that this band completes its unfinished business. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here is the latest to hit the deck and while it suffers from a slight case of déjà vu, it's business as usual for the quartet.

Much like earlier AIC albums, a lot of tracks on offer are plump for the picking, while others are a bit underripe. It's like both ends of the album have been pegged and what sags in the middle is a trapped bundle of goodness. Three tracks in, Stone bears fruit with that familiar dirty guitar chug emblazoned with ricocheting guitar bursts and a harmonic shift in vocal line. Voices breaks it up a bit with an acoustic guitar-ballad sort of vibe and that irrepressible, jarring vocal partnership is at its bleak best on Breath On A Window, where the old Alice is brought back to life and DuVall's dissonant tones struggle to avoid being suppressed by the droning dirge guitars pushing him under.