When I heard at the MetalTalk offices that the mighty Jerry Cantrell was going to deliver a new studio album, I beat off all the other rock journalists to review this stunning set of new songs from this legend. Legend? I do not use this word lightly.
Jerry Cantrell – I Want Blood (Double J Music)
Release Date: 18 October 2024
Words: Sara Harding
I super love Alice In Chains, having filmed and worked with them for over 30 glorious years, yet I have always admired Cantrell’s solo outings, too. Jerry Cantrell is not just a songwriter. He is an architect who created the unique sound that dominated the early ’90s Seattle sound, which is just as integral and relevant in his solo outings.
In fact, Boggy Depot inspired me and a couple of other journos to go to the deepest, darkest Oklahoma to track down said depot (pronounced dep – oh in them their parts of the US of A) where Jerry used to hang out as a kid and featured as the album’s iconic cover.
Fast forward to the now, and JC is just about to drop his long-awaited new album, I Want Blood, an album brimming with Cantrell’s signature vocals and guitar-driven melodies.
Vilified kicks the album off and is a stunning, sonic way to start my aural journey of JCness. This song is high-octane, beautifully crafted and instantly catchy. It is packed with the Cantrell DNA of searing guitar solos and the JC vocals we love.
“Vilified travels a lot of places in just four and a half minutes,” Cantrell says. “It’s got a ferocity and really aggressive vibe to it.” The video is on constant rotation on my YouTube channel, and it’s classic Cantrell. I am obsessed already.
Off The Rails is deep and darkly brilliant. Cantrell says of the new album, “This record is a serious piece of work. It’s a motherf*cker. It’s hard, no doubt, and completely unlike Brighten. And that’s what you want, to end up in a different place.”
Cantrell has spoken of a confidence in I Want Blood. “I think it’s some of my best songwriting and playing,” he said, “and certainly some of my best singing.” This song shows this in spades. It is so good that I have played it over and over and over.
Afterglow takes the pace back with a slower tempo and upfront vocals. This is a killer opportunity to sit back and listen to Cantrell’s lyrics and the tone of his voice. This was released with “a moving piece of film” Cantrell created with award-winning artist Matt Mahurin.
“Two of my all-time favourite videos I’ve directed are No Excuses and Angry Chair for Alice In Chains in the early ’90s,” Matt Mahurin said. “To be able to once again offer my visual work to Jerry’s Afterglow some thirty years later was a blast. From opera aria to pop tune, everybody sees a movie playing in their mind’s eye when they listen to a song. Jerry inspired a welcome fever dream that I was grateful to lure out of my mind’s eye.”
Up next on this listen is the title track, I Want Blood, which is upbeat, no-nonsense, and, to use a very British phrase, is bloody brilliant.
For the album, Jerry recruited a team of musicians like no other I Want Blood is co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens Of The Stone Age, Melvins) and was recorded at Barresi’s JHOC Studio in Pasadena, California.
The album also features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses) and Robert Trujillo (Metallica), drummers Gil Sharone (Team Sleep, Stolen Babies) and Mike Bordin (Faith No More), and backing vocals from Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (Better Lovers, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan).
Their musical additions to this album take it to another level, then take it up another notch. It is like going from a 10 to an 11 and to a 12, if that is even possible.
In Echoes Of Laughter, Cantrell’s vocals shine in this stunning song. It is doleful and delicious, rich and rocking, like a beautifully written book set to a stunning soundscape. This has ‘anthem’ written all over it and is just sheer pure indulgence with lingering notes and vocal trains.
What I love about I Want Blood is that there are no filler tracks. The album has been produced to flow from song to song with the right pace and energy. Throw Me A Line sits perfectly with Cantrell’s crafting and timeline of this album. Love, love, love.
Let It Lie starts with a detuned lead guitar into a foray of Cantrell’s more profound vibe, then blasts into a chorus that is both emotive and electric. And then that guitar solo. Hells teeth, I turned my amp right up and indulged in the pure guitar chops of Mr Cantrell. Epicness.
Held Your Tongue begins with Cantrell singing acapella into the cacophony of his amazing cast of carefully cast bandmates kicking in. Then there is the softness of the ‘we belong together’ middle part before crashing back into backline badness.
It Comes literally comes with tonal guitar riffs into softer, yet glorious vox. The key this is written in is classic Cantrell. Dual vocals, stunning guitar and like no other band or artist I have heard. This song is a testament to Jerry’s songwriting skills which make him unique and never wavering from the soundscape he has created. It is just pure JC.
I cannot wait to see Jerry Cantrell bring this album to life with his next tour. I have got all the lyrics down already. I am fucking honoured to write this review, and you need this album in your life.
Thirty years after our first film shoot with Jerry Cantrell, Headbangers Ball legend Vanessa Warwick will be interviewing JC soon for our rocking new TV series. So, there will be more news of this amazing album to come.
Huge thanks to Velvet Hammer, Willful Publicity and Austin Collins.
Jerry Cantrell – I Want Blood – Is available on CD, digitally, and multiple 2 LP vinyl variants. A bonus spoken word version of each song on I Want Blood is included with each vinyl release. For more details and to pre-order, visit bio.to/JerryCantrell.
