Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We are dominated by our surroundings, the seemingly never-ending flatness and the scene in which mountains meet the oceans, all take their toll on the minds who see and inhabit such views; when the examination of what it provides in the way of art looms large and almost predatory upon the senses, a wolf that seeks both shelter and food and finding both in plentiful supply.

It is impossible to contemplate such scenic views without being overwhelmed by the monumental, the feeling of size that inflicts its power upon you. To try and conceive the sheer scope of the mountain from the first layer of rock that you might try to climb, is to imagine that Everest is a hill, that you negotiate with the unmoveable into being kind to your endeavours, expecting it to not challenge you. If you don’t want to be pushed then find a small step in which to ascend, if you do, then start to climb the beast when its top is shrouded in mist, when it has no reason to do anything but entice you with possible riches.

In Alice In Chains’ new album, Rainier Fog, the level of what lays before the band unfolds its self like a piece of origami that has been creased and pleated with the utmost precision. Once revealed though, Rainier Fog revels in the mist that shrouds its peaks and troughs, nothing after all ever comes easy, no matter the experience, there is always a more dominating mountain in which to scale and succeed in climbing.

It is in the pursuit of the metal crush that arguably has always driven Alice In Chains to see the next step, despite the path of other bands from the Seattle area, Alice in Chains have taken perhaps tentative steps, but each one assured, each one upon reflection causes the listener to believe in the firm footed and assured, not the ones for the gung ho, oxygen discarded assault on the summit, this is the long game in action.

In songs such as Red Giant, Drone, Deaf Ears Blind Eyes and So Far Under, Alice In Chains have found the wolf that has been hiding in the caves, met its snarling tones and wildness in its eyes and done the remarkable, it has pacified it and sent it on its way, leaving the mist to smother it in own comfortable fashion.

Rainier Fog is the exploration of the next level, the pinnacle not yet seen through the mist, but one that is tackled unrestrained and untethered.

Ian D. Hall