There's nothing uplifting or unexpected about Cantrell's Boggy Depot, but that's nothing to complain about. Cantrell may not have as distinctive a voice as Alice In Chains' Layne Staley, but it isn't that far off. He even manages the same kind of densely-layered harmonies on tracks like "My Song". Still, it's the dark, hypnotic riffage that carries this album, not the singing. As with any Alice album, Boggy Depot is full of moody, circular vamps and ominously stuttering hooks, from the muscular grind of "Dickeye" to the slow boil of "Jesus Hands." Working with drummer Sean Kinney and a rotating array of bassists (including Mike Inez and Les Claypool), Cantrell makes no bones about this being his show, and as such layers guitars left and right. But that sonic density works to his advantage, bringing an almost symphonic scale to "Breaks My Back" and turning "Keep The Light On" into a growling, bent-note juggernaut. Boggy Depot really is the next best thing to a new Alice In Chains album.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars