665. Alice in Chains / The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. 2013. 2/5

It was great news for all that Alice in Chains was producing another album. After the excellent comeback of Black Gives Way to Blue there was plenty of cause to be excited at the prospect. There was also a whisper that the band was looking to produce a heavier album this time around. Now, it's all fine to come out and do a heavy album and really push that aspect. With my love of heavy metal, I encourage it from most bands. But heavy is not just tuning that guitar down to a guttural peak and play slow chunking riffs, it needs to have direction and variety, and a hook to grab you and drag you in. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here really lacks that hook.

There is not the same emotion in the songs or the strength in the vocals. Not the same inspiration, nor the same drive. They seem to be dawdling along to their destination, not taking you along for the ride. The lyrical aspect here is almost nauseating, like reciting poetry in a monotone, uninflected voice. Everything seems to be playing in the same key, at exact the same tempo.
And I think that this is the main problem here. While it SOUNDS like an Alice in Chains album, it just doesn't have the energy and heart of an Alice in Chains album. It really just plods along, almost like an approaching migraine, grinding its way along at the same sort of pace and constant nagging, until you can really take no more. Yep, this is grunge, but almost to an excess, as if they were saying "These are our roots, rediscover them - to the MAX!"
"Voices" is the first song that really tugs at the memory strings. I can almost hear Layne's spirit coming in to harmonise along in the chorus. But even this song just misses a chance to show some power and reach out and grab you through your chest. Instead, it warbles along, like a stagnant stream searching for a surge of water behind it to push it along. That surge never seems to arrive.

Unlike it's predecessor, Black Gives Way to Blue, which had some great songs, the vocals here are pretty much just tracking together. There is no great duelling of voices between Jerry and Will, nor any great harmonising between them.
In the end this has come to a disappointing climax. There just isn't anything here that can lift this album above the average.
It's not that I hate this album, it's just that, overall, I don't like it either. It missed the mark, and it is missing some of the vital ingredients that made Alice in Chains a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps in a live environment these songs would come to life, but from my stereo speakers it sounds like a funeral, and the bell may be tolling for thee.