ALICE IN CHAINS: Rainier Fog
Out of all of the bands to break out of Seattle back in the grunge heyday, Alice in Chains has been the most remarkably consistent in terms of a signature sound. And that's pretty amazing for a band that endured multiple break-ups, hiatuses, and the 2002 death of their original singer, the gifted, haunted Layne Staley. Somehow, after all of that turmoil, the Alice of 2018 still sounds very true to the Alice of 1992.
Then again, by this point, some people would hear that consistency and call it predictability- and they wouldn't be wrong. Their sixth album Rainier Fog (and third with frontman William Duvall) remains comfortably faithful to the AIC sound; the sludgy guitar progressions, the dark gray lyricism and the brooding harmonies are still firmly in place. The closest that Rainier Fog ever comes to experimentation is when guitarist Jerry Cantrell throws in a few more major chords than he's ordinarily known for.
So for the Alice diehards, this is a safe and satisfactory addition to the oeuvre- very much a work that can be placed alongside 2009's Black Gives Way to Blue and 2013's The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. For over a decade now, Duvall has pulled off the daunting, unenviable task of filling in for an icon- and he does so with style and serious chops. Check out his vocals on new tracks like Fly and Maybe- his voice has always been reminiscent of Staley's, and yet uncannily blends into Cantrell's co-lead vocals. Duvall is the right man for a difficult job, and he's brought a fantastic energy back to the live shows.
That being said, there's nothing on Rainier Fog as head-bangingly catchy as Man in the Box, Would or Check My Brain. There's nothing that matches the startling beauty of the Jar of Flies EP. Album opener The One You Know sets the pace but never delivers any giant hooks. So Far Under could easily pass as a b-side from Dirt- in that it feels very much like a cut from that album, while never living up to the a-sides. In many ways, Rainier Fog is the equivalent of King Animal, the final, underwhelming Soundgarden album- instantly familiar but somehow forgettable.
It's great to have Alice in Chains still standing. If nothing else, they're Seattle purists, the flipside to Pearl Jam, the band that never wrote a love song or stretched too far beyond their mud-soaked roots. And Rainier Fog is a fine example of the band's longevity- but everything you need to know is right there in the title. Their music has always sounded like the rainy, foggy weather of the Great Northwest, and at this point, The One You Know is the one you get. C
