On Sept. 29, Dirt, the legendary sophomore album by Alice in Chains turned 27. The influence that Dirt had on both rock and metal cannot be understated, and despite its age, it is a collection of music that remains arguably unmatched to this day. What Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney, Mike Starr, and Layne Staley captured in 1992 was pure lighting in a bottle, and the enduring impact of each song is a testament to this. Sure, Dirt is considered a seminal grunge album, but it was and remains so much more. Dirt is perhaps the doomiest grunge album that was ever made, and traces of its depressive and downtrodden heaviness can be heard in much of today’s stoner doom metal.
As part of their Redux Records series, Magnetic Eye Records has gathered some of the best and brightest underground acts that metal has to offer and recreated landmark albums from rock’s storied history. These have included Helmet’s Meantime, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Electric Ladyland. For their latest release, they tasked bands such as Khemmis, Forming the Void, Howling Giant, and Thou with the formidable task of recreating Dirt. Staying true to the Redux Records series, this is no mere cover album; while some of the bands pull off faithful recreations of the original songs, others completely reimagine their track to great avail. What results is an incredible collection of music that is both nostalgic in execution and ambitious in scope.
Thou’s ultra-crushing rendition of the iconic “Them Bones” stays true to the original, but as Thou usually does, they somehow make a heavy song even heavier. Low Flying Hawks’ take on “Dam That River” is the first example of a complete reimagining of the original track. Ambient guitars and spacious percussion replace what was originally an aggressive, chugging riff, while the airy vocals are a far cry from Layne Staley’s original delivery. Despite the complete revamp, the essence of the song remains the same; think of it as the same song with a new set of musical DNA. That’s Dirt [Redux] in a nutshell (No Alice In Chains pun intended).
What makes this album such a delight to listen to is that the songs are familiar, yet there’s no predicting what each band is going to do with their respective song. Obviously, there’s a lot of exceptional talent here, and in what can only be described as pure satisfaction, each band does exactly what you’d hope they’d do when covering Alice In Chains in their own style, but the end result is even better than you’d hoped.
Take Khemmis covering “Down In A Hole.” Somehow, they took an already emotional song and fortified it with yet another layer of pure sorrowful weight that I’m sure Layne Staley would be flattered by. Howling Giant’s soaring rendition of “Rooster” is perhaps the album’s most drastic reinvention, as the song’s structure is almost completely unrecognizable upon listen. And yet, each subsequent listen reveals why Howling Giant’s take on the song is on par with the original. Forming the Void’s doomy, groovy take on “Junkhead” is another highlight, and, once again, reveals its intent more clearly with each subsequent spin.
Those who go into Dirt [Redux} expecting a typical cover album may be left sorely disappointed. The point of this record isn’t to try and outdo what Alice In Chains did in 1992; the bands themselves would be the first to say this. Rather, Dirt [Redux] should be approached as an authentic, and frankly, badass tribute to one of the greatest albums ever made, recreated with the utmost reverence by some of its most devoted disciples. Listen to it with those ears, and you’re bound to leave with not only a deeper appreciation of Dirt, but also the role it played in paving the way for the bands that have somehow managed to breathe new life into an album that didn’t even need it.
Score: 9.5/10
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