Initially a reluctant solo artist, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell made his first tentative foray by contributing a track to The Cable Guy back in 1996. Faced with a band on hiatus, the endeavour clearly awakened something within him, for it led to the excellent Boggy Depot in 1998 with members of Pantera, AiC, and Primus lending a helping hand. Despite offering a different set of dynamics, the sound remained tethered enough to Alice in Chains that fans welcomed it with open arms, and its success paved the way for Jerry’s oppressive masterpiece – Degradation Trip – in 2002.
Alice in Chains, of course, made an emotional return in 2005, and it would be 19 years before another solo effort would appear. Titled Brighten and released in 2021, the album saw Jerry partner with Tyler Bates (Marilyn Manson, Bush, Pet), as well as a stellar cast of musicians for a varied and well-received effort. It is, therefore, with no small amount of anticipation that this follow up, appearing a mere three years later, has been greeted.
Produced by Joe Barresi, with whom Jerry previously worked in Alice in Chains, and featuring a revolving cast of musicians that includes Gil Sharone (drums), returning Degradation Trippers Mike Bordin (Faith No more) and Rob Trujillo (Metallica), as well as contributions from Duff McKagen (Guns ‘n’ Roses), and Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan), I Want Blood is a concise, concentrated blast that focuses on the heavier side of Cantrell’s varied songwriting.
Opening with Vilified, a track pitched somewhere between AiC (not least in the tightly wound vocal harmonies), and Helmet’s rhythmic pulse, it sounds utterly immense. Driven by Gil’s energetic percussion, we find Cantrell deploying his full range of tricks, with crunchy riffs and wah-inflected guitar slicing through the mix like forked lightning. It’s a hell of a show indeed, and it finds Jerry on unforgiving form. A stair-stepping riff paves the way for Off The Rails, a track that twists and turns, proving impossible to pin down as it slithers towards a chorus that combines melody and menace to mesmerising effect. The tone lightens a touch with the wistful Afterglow, a calmer piece with a lingering sense of melancholy. It allows a touch of respite, only for the storm clouds to gather once more on the title track. However, while I Want Blood may be dark, it’s an interesting sonic digression that sees Jerry adopting a more post-punk vibe, the strobing feedback and ominous chant of I Want Blood recalling elements of Sisters of Mercy and Paradise Lost circa One Second.
The second half of the album opens with the woozy, mid-tempo Echoes Of Laughter. Driven by acoustic guitar and layered with eerie guitar, it’s a gnarled and twisted take on country, washed down with mescaline and dimly lit by desert fires. It neatly contrasts with taut rocker Throw Me A Line, which nods to early Alice in Chains in the way it juxtaposes the tightly wound riff of the verse with a more expansive, harmony-infused chorus. Things get heavier still as Jerry tears into the grinding riff of Let It Lie, while intoning the ominous lyric “buried alive”. A close cousin to the gut-wrenching material of Degradation Trip, play it loud and it threatens to blot out the light altogether. Rather more vulnerable, Jerry’s voice rings out alone at the start of Held Your Tongue, only for the band to come crashing in for a surprisingly up-tempo and visceral rocker. The final track offers one last surprise, as Jerry produces a spiritual sequel to the darkly experimental Frogs (from AiC’s underrated self-titled album). Based around a picked, minor key riff, It Comes is an evocative head-trip that brings the album to a satisfying close, leaving the listener with a lingering sense of unease long after the final notes have rung out.
A unique songwriter, while many artists have taken influence from Jerry Cantrell, few (if any) have as successfully woven weight, melody, and atmosphere into so compelling a tapestry. As a result, whether playing with Alice in Chains or stepping out alone, he remains peerless. Turn the lights down low and let yourself drift between the riffs and the harmonies, for I Want Blood is one hell of a journey. 8.5/10
