The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
They may be terrible paleontologists, but on The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, Alice in Chains prove that grunge fossils can still churn out slithery menace. It’s the band’s second LP since the 2002 death of singer Layne Staley, and though new vocalist William DuVall doesn’t have his predecessor’s talent for shaping Seattle sludge into molten-dread anthems, founder Jerry Cantrell’s expressively torpid guitar steps up to become its own kind of lead voice, chugging mordantly on “Hollow” and wailing like My Bloody Valentine on “Pretty Done.” Standout cut: the seven-minute “Phantom Limb,” which evokes Staley’s memory with stomping survivor’s pride.