ALICE IN CHAINS have issued the following update:

"AIC Record (and Beards) Finished!

As most of you who have been paying attention have already figured out, the new Alice In Chains album is finally complete. We've been in the studio since October, and since it all began we celebrated 6 major holidays, elected a new President of the United States, crowned new World Series and Super Bowl champs, endured fires, earthquakes, & blackouts in and around Los Angeles, took a 2 1/2 week break to go to Australia, and to cap it all off, William & Jerry finally euthanized their beards.

This long, arduous process is complete, and although there's still a lot of work to be done, the songs are in the can and that's the most important thing.

So what can I tell you when I look back on the last six months?

I can tell you that the monotony of 12 to 16 hour days in the studio can be broken up by multiple costumes & hair styles, hours and hours of dice games, any sort of dialogue delivered in a heavily accentuated southern drawl, and a slew of special guests dropping by the studio.

Most of all I can tell you that some amazing songs were written and recorded. From the heaviest riff-dripping gut puncher to the most sadly beautiful song I think this band has ever recorded, I honestly believe that this album will return Alice In Chains to the top of the hard rock heap.

So now the next few months are dedicated to things like album artwork, lining up interviews & press, shooting videos, planning tours, and figuring out whether to bury Jerry & William's beards at sea or donate them to science.

Hopefully these new songs will strike a chord and make a similar impact on all of you out there that were moved by this band in the first place. These songs have definitely done that with me, and frankly I'm getting pretty sick and tired of loving this stuff alone, so I can’t wait for it to be released so it'll become your favorite record of 2009 and we can discuss it at the shows.

So clear a slot in your CD shelf and schedule maternity leave from work in September, because the long drought will be over soon...

Baldy."

AIC Australia Recap