Jerry Cantrell is back with a very heavy album and as suggested by the title: ‘I Want Blood’ (‘you’ve got it’!)! Can’t be more direct and straight forward than that! There is a distinctive shift on this one, as the predecessor ‘Brighten’ in 2021 was not so much heavy or ‘metal’ like this one certainly is. Cantrell fully unfolds his potential on unleashing all his heavy arsenal, with leads, solos and everything he’s got in riffs.
For many different reasons, ‘I Want Blood’ resembles a lot Alice in Chains’ comeback with ‘Back Gives Way to Blue’, in regard to its roughness, emotional thickness and convincing attempt of the artist to bring forward what he stands for and what he is capable of. Delightful are the vocal lines and melodies too, a trademark of this specific aspect of Jerry Cantrell. After, we need not a reminder of how good and talented he is a singer. Although this album is very heavy, dark and mellow (not a surprise!), there are glimpses of this struggle between light and dark moods polars (e.g.: ‘Afterglow’) which intrigue and strengthen our interest. Harmonies and balancing bridges are also combined with up-tempo and galloping riffs and solid drums (e.g.: on track ‘I Want Blood’), which spice up the overall character and emphasize the album’s defining status. ‘Echoes of laughter’ diversifies the tracks and presents a more melodic but still very dark side as usual, in a slow and dramatic pace.
‘Let it Lie’ starts off with a massive Black Sabbath riff which could make Tony Iommi blink his eye. This doomy and super heavy tone sets the standards of this album and is definitely one of the highlights on this record. ‘Hold your tongue’ is another interesting track, where Jerry Cantrell begins singing acapella before the dramatic riffs enter into stage.
The ending track ‘It comes’ is a cinematic tune, with the trademark melodramatic vocal lines of the artist of course, a slow-paced song overall (except the middle part), consisting of the perfect outro to a brilliant record. A record which is easily one of Jerry Cantrell’s career highlights, one of his finest moments, deriving from his desire to write heavy, mellow and convincingly good songs. Having nothing to prove to no one, Jerry Cantrell is a magnificent songwriter, performer, vocalist and guitar player who can unleash outstanding albums like ‘I Want Blood’ and still reminds us how fucking great he is!
Last but not least, it is worth mentioning the contributions of Duff McKagan, Robert Trujillo, Mike Bordin and others, all good old friends of JC, who really step up the level of musicianship and creativity of this album, raising the bar higher and making it one of the best albums of 2024.
9/10
Tracklist:
1. “Vilified”
2. “Off the Rails”
3. “Afterglow”
4. “I Want Blood”
5. “Echoes of Laughter”
6. “Throw Me a Line”
7. “Let It Lie”
8. “Held Your Tongue”
9. “It Comes”
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