Alice In Chains – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

Capitol

2013

On 28th of May 2013, Alice In Chains released their fifth studio record intriguingly entitled The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here to generally favorable reviews. After the runaway success of 2009’s stunning comeback record Black Gives Way To Blue many fans were curious to see how a follow-up record would match up, the second to feature vocalist William Duvall, recruited into the band in 2006. Alice themselves were clearly on something of a creative high following a successful tour run in support of BGWTB; speaking to Pulse of the Radio in 2010, Duvall stated that the band would record again sooner rather than later: “You don’t do all this work and then stop for another 15 years, or, y’know. stop forever or whatever… we are on a path and just as it was in the beginning we still don’t know where it’s going to lead but were digging what we’re doing and we’re very happy with the reception that we got”. To that end guitarist Jerry Cantrell in a 2013 interview with Guitar World stated that; “We approach every new record the same way – by just totally forgetting about the last one, you have to start from zero every time”. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (last time I’m typing that out in full, Alice was fond of long titles there for a while!) was produced by Nick Raskulinecz of Foo Fighters fame, who also helmed the dials on BGWTB, at L.A.’s Henson Studios and the album’s release date was put back numerous times due to Cantrell’s ongoing shoulder issues and surgery. The record’s lead single “Hollow” released in December some five months before the album release was marketed in a decidedly clever way; fans were encouraged to submit their Instagram pictures (not of food or vacuous selfies) to lyrics gradually revealed by the band over a period of time and the initiative was a great way to drive hype for the record. Similar, Alice posted on their website a random amount of letters which deciphered would reveal the records title. To the best of my knowledge, no fan guessed the correct title. Also Alice, to celebrate their 23 years in the music biz released their very own documentary titled AIC 23. The actual band members couldn’t be interviewed but that’s the music industry for ya. Do check it out.

TDPDH kicks off with the aforementioned “Hollow” a monolithic slab of doom/sludge metal with a riff like a wrecking ball before leading into an almost pensive verse section which does a great job of creating tension throughout the track with an uplifting- by -Alice standards pre chorus which repeats after the second verse to reveal an anything but uplifting main chorus. The tracks haunting refrain of “silence so loud” is instantly memorable and evocative and it is clear that although Alice may have moved on, many scars still remain. The track features an excellent solo from Cantrell leading into the songs bridge with the chorus section repeating. An excellent opener to the new record then and a suitably bleak tone set for the remainder of the album. There was also a proper video made for the track; however this reviewer much prefers the fan made one.

Next up is the vastly underrated “Pretty Done” beginning with an almost wasp like droney riff in the verses leading into a semi catchy yet bitterly cynical chorus. The track features an interesting middle section with Duvall and Cantrell melding into perfect harmony with interesting guitar work. “Pretty Done” could have found a home on the 1995 self titled. “Stone” follows, the albums second single beginning with a huge sounding bass riff from Mike Inez and a snappy riff from Cantrell, the track saunters along with an eerie refrain of “cold dry stone” until a sudden stop in proceedings leading to a dissonant guitar solo from Cantrell. “Stone” is a decent track which perhaps doesn’t live up to its initial promise and therefore doesn’t quite warrant repeat listens. Alice In Chains have never really attempted to write a pop song for radio, but they do attempt to do just that with the next track “Voices” beginning with suitably pensive guitar from Cantrell leading into a strum along country esque riff complete with cryptic lyrics such as ” Who am I? is this real? Am I one or thirteen?” before leading into a paranoid catchy chorus. “Voices” is a good Alice track; it’s different to what they have done before and has a certain charm and while it’s not the most innovative Alice track, it doesn’t ever outstay its welcome and featured a memorable music video to boot which pays homage the bands home town of Seattle.

The record’s title track follows and to this reviewers ears it is the best track on TDPDH, beginning with suitably sinister and dissonant guitar riff with a slightly unsettling vocal from Cantrell in the verse sections before leading into a powerful pre chorus with the memorable chorus refrain of “The devil put dinosaurs here, Jesus don’t like a queer” addressing the belief that hardcore Christians have of the Earth being just a couple of thousand years old and that the devil planted dinosaur bones to create the illusion of Darwinism. The band copped some heat from certain sections of the society for seemingly derisive lyrics but they missed the entire point of the message which I’m not going to labor over here and it is interesting to hear Alice tackle social and existential issues which up until this point had being a rarity for the band. On some of the perceived ‘controversy’ Cantrell had this to say about the track in the interview with Guitar World; “…the basic message to most faith systems is in contradiction to how it gets applied. The human element seems to fuck it up”. Oh, and the video is great too. What a thumbnail.

“Lab Monkey”, another underrated gem from this record is next beginning with an excellent ominous sounding bass riff which is then joined by agonized guitars with excellent vocals from Cantrell and in particular Duvall which rackets up the tension throughout the track. On this record Alice continued the same vocal arrangements that were on BGWTB with Duvall given little chance to display his impressive vocal style. On “Lab Monkey” we get a little bit more of a vocal presence from Duvall and the track is all the better for it especially in the defiant chorus sections. “Low Ceiling” follows and it’s an odd sounding Alice track. Much like “Voices” the track is somewhat different to what has come before from the band with a jaunty main guitar riff with crunchy bass, syncopated drums and almost poppy chorus, the track perhaps is more reminiscent of Cantrell’s solo work but is a decent enough track if not largely inoffensive. Next up is “Breath On A Window” another fairly standard 4/4 rocker until the excellent bridge section where the track turns on a dime in quite an atmospheric manner before ending out in a desolate, absolutely knowing forlorn refrain of “I’d let you go but your always in the way, I’m the damage done your scar of yesterday”. One of the highlights of the album and another underrated track. “Scalpel” is another cracked country tinged ballad from the Cantrell cannon with a strong memorable chorus from Cantrell and Duvall. This is yet another track that could have easily ended up on Boggy Depot back in the day and while”Scalpel” is a perfectly fine song it is perhaps a little throwaway for an Alice In Chains record. Next up is the impossibly heavy “Phantom Limb” complete with massive sounding drums from the always excellent Sean Kinney, “Phantom Limb” is quite an ethereal sounding track and yet another track which effortlessly cranks up the tension levels throughout before the release of soaring dual vocal harmonies in the choruses . This is another song which evokes the best of the self titled record for me and that is eerie in and of itself for obvious reasons.

Every Duvall era Alice In Chains record, interestingly, has its William Duvall showcase and “Hung On A Hook” is this records one. And it’s utterly brilliant. Beginning with a slightly sinister dark riff, a motif which continues for the whole track, Duvall excels throughout; particularly in the chorus section with the knowing hopeless refrain of “I’m caught in a still life with no frame, sometimes people do, the world it don’t change”. The track is utterly compelling and atmospheric from start to end and it really makes you wonder why the band don’t utilize Duvall’s very obvious vocal and lyrical talent more. TDPDH ends with “Choke” a surprisingly wistful ballad with strummed guitar and laid back drums complete with a hooky chorus and moody introspective verses leading to a climatic ending for the track after one last dissonant solo from Cantrell and chorus refrain.

The song is decent way for the record to end and what a dense record it has been; TDPDH is an exhaustive listen (in a good way) at twelve tracks and a run-time of nearly seventy minutes( the longest Alice record to date). As mentioned earlier, clearly the band were inspired by the recruitment of Duvall and the highly successful BGWTB album and tour run and had a wealth of material written on the road and maybe the band were just determined to make up for lost time but in any event TDPDH is a fine and worthy addition to the Alice discography and while it was not as well received by critics or by some fans as its predecessor I have to say I adore this album; granted it could do with losing of its lesser tracks but honestly there is no real ‘dud’ track on this record and I have some mostly fond memories from this records time frame. I personally think Black is the strongest record Alice In Chains have made in the Duvall era but I do highly recommend checking out TDPDH to anyone who missed it first time out. It’s a dense record certainly and you will have to sit down and invest a lot of time in it and let the music seep in, but in all honesty this is a great, hugely underrated, record from Alice In Chains. There is indeed, as Jerry once said of the record, “some real filth here”.

Works Cited:

Bienstock, Richard., (2013, June) Jerry Cantrell Tells How Alice In Chains Buried Their Past With ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’, Guitar World.