Jerry Cantrell has finished recording his long awaited third solo album and first since 2002’s Degradation Trip.
The Alice in Chains guitarist-singer shared the good news in an Instagram post from the studio last night (March 4th). The face-masked gang includes Cantrell posed next to engineer Paul Fig, The Dillinger Escape Plan singer Greg Puciato, and producer Joe Barresi.
“Finished my record tonight one year to the day from when we started recording it,” Cantrell wrote. “What a crazy journey … always is. Look forward to setting it free upon your ear holes sometime soon.”
Given the timeline outlined in the post, the new album would be Cantrell’s pandemic record. His previous two solo efforts, 1998’s Boggy Depot and the aforementioned Degradation Trip, were also made during turbulent times. Boggy Depot came out amid the uncertain hiatus of Alice in Chains, while Cantrell’s own substance abuse problems marred his memories of Degradation Trip — a record he said he doesn’t “listen to a lot anymore”.
Previously, Cantrell and Puciato collaborated on a pair of intimate unplugged dates in late 2019. Puciato sang Layne Staley’s parts during the Alice in Chains songs, hinting that Puciato and Cantrell might be collaborating on other material. Back in March of 2020, we reported that the guitarist had begun work on a new record.
In 2018, Cantrell released the excellent one-off track “Setting Sun”, which was featured on DC Comics’ Dark Nights: Metal compilation. If it’s any indication, the new solo record will be another heavy slice of alternative metal.
Cantrell’s Instagram post can be seen below. Stay tuned for further updates as they become available.
