With the death of lead singer Layne Staley in 2002 after years of battling drug addiction, Seattle band Alice In Chains were thought to be no more.

But in 2005, the three remaining members -- guitarist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Inez -- played a benefit gig for victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami disaster.

And thanks to finding singer William DuVall, they've been riding a wave of momentum ever since, resulting in the new studio album Black Gives Way to Blue out today.

"There wasn't a plan to do a record," Kinney says alongside Cantrell prior to a Toronto gig in early September. "It was just the natural progression of one thing leading to another thing. We felt we were willing to do it and it led up to the creation of ideas."

"It wasn't something that was destined to succeed or something that was supposed to happen, it was just an unexpected thing," Cantrell adds. "Some of the best things in life are like that."

Once making that initial decision, Kinney says the band self-financed the album, not wanting to jump into bed with a label first if "we felt it didn't hold up to the standards we hold for ourselves."

But Cantrell says the band wrote a lot for the record.

"Once we were committed to take that step, we worked our butts off," he says.

"We were talking about how to do it -- the production, promoting it, distributing it."

Another integral part of the process came in producer Nick Raskulinecz, someone Kinney says meshed well with the band's recording beliefs.

"He works the same way we do, the old-school style in terms of performance, real amps, microphone placements and stuff," Kinney says.

"It wasn't like record it and then we'll fix it with all this technology like they do a lot of times.

"He's a great producer because he wants to get the real sound, it takes a lot of time -- but it pays off."

"He not the type of producer who is going to put his stamp on everything, which is a really cool quality, allowing the band to be themselves and trying to bring the best out of them from the beginning," Cantrell says.

While the album is making inroads thanks to the single Check My Brain, the closing title track is also garnering much attention.

The number, featuring a guest appearance by Elton John on piano, pays tribute to the late Staley.

"It brought back a lot of things and it was certainly something that needed to be said, something that we've all gone through privately," Cantrell says of the song.

"This whole effort isn't just for us, it's for Layne too. He's always been a part of this band and he's always going to be a part of this band.

"I think he would've liked it, I think he probably would have been on it had he been here.

"We always felt that we would make music together. It was never out of the realm of possibility that he would be making music with us again until he was gone."

If there's any silver lining, it would have to be how William DuVall has picked up the proverbial torch as lead singer.

"I think it's a constant learning process for him but he's handled it with grace and respect," Cantrell says. "Luckily he's got a band behind him that's been together now for 25 years. It's really picking up steam and it's really exciting to see what's going to happen next."