Alice in Chains haven’t released an album since their 2009 ‘Black Gives Way to Blue’, but the 90s band seems to be back with a new one next year. They have just unveiled a new song, ‘Hollow’, matched with a lyric instagram-video, off their still-untitled upcoming album.
I know, the 90s are so far away, but the blasting sound of this new tune will bring you right back there, except that I found it more heavy metal than grunge? If the lyrics are quite poetic-cryptic, with stuff like ‘Turning in circles / Slowing down / Pulling against a closing out / Easy to feed off a weaker thing / Harder to say what I really mean.”, or ’Hollow as a mountain/tunneled and drilled below’, ‘Silence so loud/ I can’t tell my up from down’ – you’ll see by yourself – the guitar riffs are metal-like and build a quite dark and heavy atmosphere habited by sinister vocal harmonies, that could haunt you for a little while.
It sure ain’t a happy tune and the matching pictures just evoke more desolation and distress! The video was entirely made by fans who shared for two weeks their instagram pictures inspired by the lyrics of the song, since the band had tweeted and instagrammed the lyrics before releasing the song,.. a totally original way to make a video.
Of course, many will say that it is not really vintage Alice in Chains since vocalist William DuVall replaces Layne Staley who died in 2002, but this will be their second album without their original singer and with producer Nick Raskulinecz. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell revealed a little more about the sound of the album to Revolver: ‘I don't think you'll be surprised by anything you hear. It's us. But it's also really unique. It's got all the elements of any record we've put out, but it's unlike any record we've put out. Basically, it's the next chapter in the ALICE IN CHAINS book, and it's going to be a big one.’
They have been working on the album since 2011, so they better not disappoint the fans.