Alice in Chains
photo: sven mandel · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Alice in Chains formed in Seattle in 1987 around guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and singer Layne Staley, and became one of the heaviest acts of the early-1990s grunge wave with albums like 'Facelift' and the harrowing 'Dirt.' Their signature is a fusion of sludgy, detuned metal weight with eerie, tightly interlocked Cantrell-Staley vocal harmonies and lyrics steeped in addiction and dread. Staley's death in 2002 halted the band, which later regrouped with singer William DuVall, but their dark, downtuned sound had already become foundational to hard rock and grunge that followed.
Alice in Chains' crushing, slow, detuned riffs and pervasive sense of dread descend from Black Sabbath, the originators of doom-laden heavy metal, whose lumbering minor-key riffing set the template for the band's heaviest moments.
listen forSit with the leaden, trudging riff of 'Iron Man,' then Alice in Chains' 'Them Bones' — both grind a heavy, minor-key riff into pure menace before the vocal even arrives.
The band's acoustic side and its dramatic quiet-to-heavy dynamics owe to Led Zeppelin, whose blend of folk-tinged acoustic passages and blues-heavy electric power expanded hard rock's dynamic range.
listen forCompare the acoustic, folk-inflected sway of 'Ramble On' with Alice in Chains' 'Down in a Hole' — both let a fingerpicked, melancholy verse swell into a fuller, aching chorus.
The menace and grimy aggression running through Alice in Chains' early material connects to Iggy and the Stooges, whose raw, confrontational proto-punk helped set the template for both punk and heavy alternative rock.
listen forPlay the snarling, feral riff of 'Search and Destroy,' then Alice in Chains' 'Angry Chair' — both stalk forward on a raw, menacing riff under a vocal that sneers and howls.