Heavy metal and early grunge act Alice In Chains have released a new single “Never Fade,” in preparation for their upcoming album Rainer Fog, which is set to be released on August 24. In anticipation for this release the band will resume touring on August 22, in Vancouver, British Columbia, which will end in November in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The song is reminiscent of the band’s classic grunge days in the 1990’s, yet the track balances the gloomy atmosphere of their early work with a sense of optimism in its lyrics. The track’s chorus reassures the song’s subject that even though they are departed that the will never fade.

” ‘Never Fade’ was written by myself in the studio. Everyone else had gone home. I stayed there all night and just absorbed and thought about a lot of things,” Alice in Chains vocalist William DuVall stated in an interview with Classic Rock Magazine. “And I felt like being in that setting helped trigger a lot of these things that needed to come out, that I’d been hanging on to, for a lot of time in some cases. I’d just lost my grandmother; you know about Chris [Cornell]. There was so much happening, going back.”

“Never Fade,” is the first single to be released for Rainier Fog, the next two singles “The One You Know,” and “So Far Under,” are set to be released on August 24, with the album. The album will be released digitally, on CD and as a limited-edition double 180-gram clear LP with white and black splatter.

“Rainier Fog is another step further into the brilliance and musicality of what we have now come to expect from AIC,” Duff McKagan, the bassist for Guns N Roses stated in a press release. “Sean Kinney’s super-unique drum style tells one epic story, Inez’s brooding bass lines tell yet another, Duvall’s guitar prowess and lead vocals guide and narrate and nurture the triumph and torture of the subject matter, and Cantrell’s jaw-dropping songwriting, vocals, and now-legendary riff-master approach all combine for another simply brilliant effort.”

In May, a music video directed by Adam Mason was released for “The One You Know,” which marked the band’s first official release in over five years. This track was released in the midst of the band’s most recent tour which began in April in Boston, Massachusetts and ended in July in Tel Aviv, Israel.

That month also saw the band perform cover songs of two Soundgarden Songs “Boot Camp” and “Hunted Down” in honor of the late Chris Cornell. The former Soundgarden vocalist took his life in 2017, after a life long battle with depression. His widow, Vicky Cornell, contends that the anti-anxiety medication Ativan was resposible, however, the coroner who investigated the singer’s death stated that the prescription drugs were not a factor.

Alice In Chain’s co-lead singer Jerry Cantrell, has also been busy releasing solo material in addition to his role with the band. Cantrell released the single “Setting Sun” in July, which was inspired by the Dark Knights: Metal soundtrack.

Photo Credit:  Marv Watson