The Lowdown: ex Alice In Chains guitarist recovers from grief at the death of Layne Staley to record dark, brooding metal classic. More than ably assisted by Mike Bordin (Faith No More, Ozzy) and Robert Trujillo (Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy, Metallica).

Who would have thought that Jerry Cantrell, former lead guitarist, songwriter and sometimes vocalist with much missed grunge legends Alice In Chains, would release an album of this intensity and brilliance at this point in his career. With Alice once and for all consigned to the annals of history following the death of their frontman things looked bleak for Cantrell. He had released only one album since Alice's last studio album in 1995, the overlooked Boggy Depot. But here Cantrell has taken all his anger, grief and frustration and channelled it into creating a dangerous sounding collection of deeply cathartic metal vignettes. A definite postcard from the edge, this is music dredged up from the Man's very soul, and it's a black place.

The sound borrows a lot from Alice In Chains, with dark murky guitars and double tracked vocals. This is hardly surprising, considering Cantrell was that bands main songwriter and double tracked a lot of the vocals with Layne Staley. But where it differs from Alice is in its metal overtones. This sounds much more metal and less grunge than anything Cantrell's old band ever recorded. There are some killer riffs that wouldn't sound out of place amongst Slayer's slower moments. In saying that the album also possesses some surprisingly upbeat and airy pop songs, which act as an effective counter balance to its usual bleak mood.

The album opens with two mid-paced slabs of depression-fuelled metal. Thinly veiled references to Staley are evident in the lyrics from the off. Anger Rising is third, a catchy riff and big chorus driven along by Mike Bordin's dead straight drumbeat. The first of many album highlights. The single Angle Eyes is one of the two poppy tracks on the record, the other being She Was My Girl. Both of these songs deal with lost love and openly refer to Cantrell's ex. Angel Eyes is light and hummable. An obvious single choice on an album short of MTV friendly sing-along fodder. She Was My Girl is up there with the greatest songs this man has ever written. It's often when a songwriter distils their style into its simplest form that they achieve the greatest results, and that is certainly the case here. A simple, infectious riff backs up a brilliantly written heartfelt lyric and a regret filled, memorable chorus.

Elsewhere on the record absolute classic metal tracks abound. Hellbound is slow and pounding with a slinky bass line from the brilliant Robert Trujillo and a dirty guitar riff from Cantrell. Castaway is another bullish, brutish tour de force. It starts out with a lethargic deliciously low-slung bass figure before Cantrell cuts in with a sharp evil sounding guitar lick and clean vocal. Even at 70 minutes the CD stays strong right up to the end. Spiderbite is another moody standout from the latter part of the album. It deals with the subject of drug addiction, like a lot of the tracks, but whether its Staley's or Cantrell's own being sung about here is unclear.

This album is destined to become a future cult classic, an undiscovered gem. It is quite simply up there with Cantrell's best ever work, the only other recording on a par being the classic AIC album "Dirt". In fact if Cantrell had released Degredation Trip under the AIC banner it could have sold a few million. But, artistic integrity intact, he didn't. You simply couldn't ask for more from the man. Or could you? Well, Cantrell has just recently released a double CD version of this album with 13 extra, and by all accounts equally stunning, tracks. So shell out the money for that or pick this version up for a few quid less. Either way, do yourself a favour and discover an album full of disturbing, enthralling, thought provoking metal, played by black belts.

Further Listening: Alice In Chains "Dirt", "Jar Of Flies".