Enormo-rock

The title of the disc's behemoth opener, "Grind," sets the metallic tone with its murky yet symphonic reach and morbid imagery. "In the darkest hole you'd be well advised not to plan my funeral before the body dies," croons a chorus of Layne Staley's voices, one pinched with Axl Rose-style arrogance, another grotesquely distorted into a low, horrified moan, the rest harmonizing on those baroque intervals that are one of the band's calling cards.

Both lyrics and the music are the work of guitarist Jerry Cantrell, a man inspired by a dreadfully dark muse. His sludgy, wah-wah-drenched guitars are the musical equivalent of the song's title - a slow-moving grinding of gears that spits muddy dirt on the vague image of the living body in the grave. And his foreboding lyrics, here and on the two other tracks he penned words for ("Heaven Beside You" and "Over Now"), are the ones you come away remembering.

Bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney back Cantrell with a plodding yet seductive anti-dance groove. And Staley, who wrote the lion's share of the disc's lyrics (and the music to one tune) finds oddly tuneful ways to interact with the band's penchant for minor-key dirges. But it's Cantrell's guitar that time and again provides the irresistible hook, climbing out of the claustrophobic murk to wrap itself like a snake around a chorus or a refrain. The elegant descending riff he unleashes in the chorus of "Grind" shines against the blackness of the rest of the song, drawing you back down into the sludge.

If Dirt, the 1992 disc that cemented Alice in Chains' position in the Seattle rock elite, was a tortured rumination on the woes of heroin, then Alice in Chains draws its inspiration from a more varied and ambiguous roster of afflictions. Staley's drug addiction and recovery became part of the public record in the months following Dirt's release. Rumors about his health and habits have persisted, along with concern over the future of the band; the latter was fueled by the release earlier this year of Mad Season's Above (Columbia), a disc featuring Staley, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, and Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin.

Alice in Chains won't dispel any of those rumors, though Staley does seem to have taken a break from dealing bluntly with his drug experiences in verse. Unfortunately, he hasn't found anything equally compelling or heartfelt to write about. So he pads his lyrics with more yeahs and heys than you want to count. (There are, however, 10 heys listed on the lyric sheet for the pounding "Again" and nine yeahs for the more expansive "Shame in You.") And "Nothin' Song" lives up to its title as nothing more than a hastily penned sketch of working in the studio with the band, set to the disc's least compelling piece of riffery. "Began this take at 7:38...wonder should I be workin' so late," Staley croons with a little too much conviction. If nothing else, it does beat the hell out of pampered rock stars writing songs about slaving away at a factory.

Elsewhere Staley weaves a paranoid web of anger, frustration, deception, and self-loathing that's just right for his vindictive voice. "So crazy feel the hate/Yeah, I've got years to wait/I know it's not too late/Lending clean hands to fate" is a typical verse from "Head Creeps," a tune that recalls mid-'70s Aerosmith without the funk. But heavy metal has never been about smart lyrics, profound thoughts, or even making sense. What counts is keying in on that surge of explosive power that's unleashed when the right power chord collides with a muscular beat and a screaming vocalist - the money shot. And Alice in Chains have that part of the deal down cold.

Yes, the new disc lacks the profound conceptual focus of Dirt, which was, if nothing else, a brutally honest look inside addiction. But Alice in Chains compensates with much sharper music. Anyone expecting the band to push further in the direction of the Jar of Flies EP (Columbia) - a post-tour quickie that came out early last year and showcased the group's looser, more eclectic side with a jazzy swing tune, a couple of acoustic interludes, and some melodic pop - is apt to be disappointed. Cantrell whips out his acoustic for the bluesy intro of "Heaven Beside You," adds some nice melodic textures with chorused guitar on "Shame in You," pulls off a cool, clean, percussive lead on the churning "Sludge Factory," and comes up with an almost Stonesy riff for "Over Now." But mostly the disc sticks to building on Dirt's monolithic foundation of hard, pounding rock.

The alternative revolution, which Alice in Chains were briefly thought to be a part of, has wreaked some serious havoc on heavy metal over the past few years. Headbangers' Ball - the MTV show that once served as something of a communal stronghold for leather & spandex rockers with 25-piece drum kits, towering Marshall stacks, and those black, fingerless gloves that never helped a single metalhead keep his grip on reality but sure looked cool - is gone. Too many alterna-rock infiltrators - Nirvana for starters, and then Soundgarden, Ministry, the Rollins Band, White Zombie, and hell, Alice in Chains - sneaked into the ballroom and stole the show, supplanting metal's waning relevance as teen rebellion with some real nihilistic teen spirit. By the end, with Guns N' Roses out of commission, Metallica on hiatus, and alterna-bands covering Kiss, actual metal bands were such a rarity on the show that MTV gave host Rikki Rachman and his roster of metalists their walking papers and turned the floor over to the new breed of modern rockers.

Alice in Chains survived the sea change on a technicality: they were from Seattle and they were grungy. But they were also, as Gina Arnold puts it in the new SPIN Alternative Record Guide, the link between Queensrÿche and Nirvana, between the old guard and new rebels. Alice in Chains actually started their career as the opening act on the 1991 "Clash of the Titans" tour, with Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. They spent six months on the road with Van Halen when Nirvana's Nevermind was taking the world by storm. And then they went on to dominate the 1993 Lollapalooza tour.

Queensrÿche and those "Clash of the Titans" tours are now kind of a joke. And sometimes it seems mainstream alternative rock is heading in that direction as well. But Alice in Chains don't have to worry. They've all but burned their bridge to alternative rock, and at least until Guns N' Roses or Metallica get it together to release an album, they're practically the only band big enough to keep heavy metal relevant. Alice in Chains are right where they wanted to be when they started in 1990. With "Clash of the Titans" and Lollapalooza behind them, they're now quite capable of shaking the rafters of the Enormodome all by themselves.