Alice In Chains guitarist / vocalist Jerry Cantrell recently spoke with Ron hart at Billboard about the band's new album, Rainier Fog. Following is an excerpt from the story.

Billboard: It was interesting that you chose a song off Rainier Fog for the first single that sees you leading off on vocals.

Cantrell: "Well, Will (DuVall) and I are pretty much 50/50. We always have been as the band has gone on. We're kind of interchangeable."

Billboard: That seems to be one of the big appeals to this particular version of Alice in Chains is how much the vocal harmonizing is so accentuated. How important was that aspect in choosing William?

Cantrell: "It was the only way the band could have continued on. We started as and continue to evolve more into a two-singer band. Layne (Staley) was a classic frontman in his own right, but he gave me the confidence to start singing more myself. I wrote a lot of this shit; I did then and I still do now. So I carry that with me, the language that we came up with together. And I learned a lot from that. The band has a certain sound, so when we moved on we knew we weren't going to change much. When I met William when he did some tours with me and my solo band, we did some Alice stuff together and he always did a great job of it. Then when it comes to Mike and Sean and I, that's another reason why the band sounds so intact is the three of us are still here, too. Those guys are really important to it as well; it gets overlooked a lot. Everybody always wants to talk about William and me, but those guys are really fucking important, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez. Also, the identity of the sound, that's carried over as well. But back to Will and I -- it's a pilot/co-pilot situation, and either one of us could be in either seat at any time."

Read the complete interview here.

According to the BBC, Alice In Chains have scored their first top ten album in the UK with Rainier Fog entering at #9. In Germany the band’s 6th album entered the Top 100 at #8 and in the US, Buzz Angle Music is projecting Rainier Fog to hit #4. Other chart positions include Australia (#15), The Netherlands (#30), New Zealand (#23), Norway (#20) and Sweden (#19).

Rainier Fog is available digitally, as well as on CD and limited-edition double 180-gram clear LP with white and black splatter available only from the band’s online store.

Rainier Fog marks a few firsts for the band: 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 (worth noting that the album title is a tribute to Seattle). They recorded at Studio X, the same facility where they tracked 1995’s self-titled Alice In Chains album (back when the studio was known as Bad Animals). The Rainier Fog 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 producer Nick Raskulinecz and engineer Paul Figueroa. The album was mixed by Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool).

Rainier Fog follows 2013’s Grammy nominated The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, which entered Billboard’s Top 200 chart at #2 and debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Hard Rock Albums charts and the iTunes Rock Album Chart. Its first two singles, “Stone” and “Hollow,” both shot to #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and “Voices” hit #3. All three tracks stayed on the chart for over 20 weeks.

Tracklisting:

"The One You Know"
"Rainier Fog"
"Red Giant"
"Fly"
"Drone"
"Deaf Ears Blind Eyes"
"Maybe"
"So Far Under"
"Never Fade"
"All I Am"

"Never Fade":

"So Far Under":

"The One You Know" video:

Alice In Chains recently added a third leg to their worldwide headlining tour. Dates are listed below and ticket info can be found here.

Live dates:

September
4 - El Paso, TX - Abraham Chavez Theatre
6 - Austin, TX - ACL Live
7 - Houston, TX - Revention Music Center
8 - Dallas, TX - Pavilion @ Toyota Music Factory
10 - Tulsa, OK - Brady Theatre
11 - Kansas City, MO - Midland Theatre
13 - Denver, CO - Fillmore
15 - Phoenix, AZ - Comerica Theatre
16 - San Diego - KAABOO

October
14 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock Festival
16 - Salt Lake City - The Depot
18 - Colorado Springs - Pikes Peak Center
20 - Newkirk, OK - First Council Casino
21 - Durant, OK - Choctaw Grand Theater
23 - New Orleans - Saenger Theatre
24 - Birmingham, AL - BJCC Concert Hall
26 - St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheatre
27 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
28 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Events Center