Alice In Chains announce new album 'Rainier Fog', shares new song 'So Far Under'
The wave of 90's rock revival added some serious firepower! Alice in Chains have officially announced their follow-up to 2013’s 'The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here'. The new album is called 'Rainier Fog,' and it’s due out on August 24th via BMG.
Along with the announcement, the grunge icons have shared the new single 'So Far Under', which should please longtime fans with its typical sludgy, distorted familiarity. “It's about feeling completely up against it — outnumbered, surrounded, facing seemingly unbeatable odds and being really pissed off about it," said singer and guitarist William DuVall in a press release.
"It was inspired by personal circumstances, as well as events in the wider world. But it’s not as resigned to defeat as it may seem. The lyric is a cold, hard assessment of a difficult situation but the music has a message all its own. There’s still room to flip the script.”
'Rainier Fog' marks a few firsts for Alice In Chains, in addition to being their first album in five years, it's their first album for BMG and their first time recording in their hometown of Seattle in more than 20 years (the title is a reference to the band's home city as well). The band recorded the album at Studio X, the same facility where they tracked 1995's self-titled 'Alice In Chains' EP.
The recording process also saw the band spend time at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles and at the Nashville studio of producer Nick Raskulinecz. 'Rainier Fog' is the third straight Alice In Chains album recorded with Raskulinecz and engineer Paul Figueroa (the previous two being 2013's 'The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here' and 2009's 'Black Gives Way To Blue'). The album was mixed by Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool).
"Every aspect of writing and recording this song will always be remembered with a lot of joy – from recording the basic tracks and the guitar solo at Studio X in Seattle to doing further overdubs at Nick Raskulinecz’s studio in rural Tennessee," DuVall said of the songwriting process. "Everyone in the band and our studio team really stepped up and knocked it out of the park on this one. We’re extremely proud of this song and the entire album.”
Guitarist and co-vocalist Jerry Cantrell spoke about the sound of the new album with Guitar World. "It's a record we haven't done yet, I can tell you that," said Cantrell. "But it's also a record that has all the elements of anything you would expect from us. It's got our fingerprint. And we're really proud of the material that we wrote and the performances we captured. There's some really heavy shit, some really ugly stuff, some really beautiful stuff, some weirdo trippy shit… it's good!" So expect a good mix of the new and the old, built to please both new and long-time fans alike.
Last month, the band shared their first new material in five years. Titled 'The One You Know', it's now confirmed to be the lead single and album opener of 'Rainier Fog'. Alice in Chains have also added a new leg to their current tour, which includes slots at festivals like California’s KAABOO Del Mar and Belgium’s Rock Werchter. See the dates, the tracklisting for the new album, as well as the album artwork, below.
'Rainier Fog' track listing:
01. The One You Know
02. Rainier Fog
03. Red Giant
04. Fly
05. Drone
06. Deaf Ears Blind Eyes
07. Maybe
08. So Far Under
09. Never Fade
10. All I Am
Alice in Chains 2018 Tour Dates:
06/28 – Padua, IT @ Sherwood
06/30 – Bezirk-Landstrasse, AT @ Arena Open Air Wien
07/01 – Budapest, HU @ Budapest Park
07/03 – Berlin, DE @ Huxley’s Neue Welt
07/04 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall
07/05-07 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/08 – Belford, FR @ Les Eurockeennes
07/10 – Milan, IT @ Ippodromo Snai San Siro
07/13 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
07/14 – Lisboa, PT @ NOS Alive
07/17 – Tel Aviv, IL @ Caesarea
07/18 – Tel Aviv, IL @ Caesarea
08/22 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
08/28 – Paso Robles, CA @ Vino Robles Amp
08/29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium
08/31 – Riverside, CA @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium
09/01 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl
09/03 – Tucson, AZ @ Tucson Music Hall
09/04 – El Paso, TX @ Abraham Chavez Theatre
09/06 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live
09/07 – Houston, TX @ Revention Music Center
09/08 – Dallas, TX @ Pavilion @ Toyota Music Factory
09/10 – Tulsa, OK @ Brady Theatre
09/11 – Kansas City, MO – Midland Theatre
09/13 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore
09/15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre
09/16 – Del Mar, CA @ KAABOO Del Mar
10/14 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
10/16 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
10/18 – Colorado Springs, CO @ Pikes Peak Center
10/20 – Newkirk, OK @ First Council Casino
10/21 – Durant, OK @ Choctaw Grand Theater
10/23 – New Orleans, LA @ Saenger Theatre
10/24 – Birmingham, AL @ BJCC Concert Hall
10/26 – St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre
10/27 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
10/28 – Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Events Center