CANTRELL IN CHAINS NO MORE.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

JERRY CANTRELL was devastated when he learned about the drug overdose death of his Alice in Chains bandmate, Layne Staley.

The two were the backbone of the influential Seattle-based rock group, which had unofficially disbanded because of Staley's addiction. It was during this time that Cantrell had begun recording as a solo artist.

With his sophomore album, ``Degradation Trip,'' due in stores next month, and a tour under way opening for Nickelback (both acts record for the Roadrunner label), Cantrell said that he is looking forward to his new beginnings.

``This is unbelievable,'' Cantrell, 36, said midtour from San Diego. ``It's a completion of a good couple of years of hard work.''

But Cantrell hasn't totally left the past behind. On tour, he has been performing songs from the Alice in Chains songbook. Even his tumultuous new album, due June 25, sounds as though it picks up where 1995's ``Alice in Chains'' studio recording left off, with its soaring harmonies, lush melodies and confessional lyrics.

While making the album, Cantrell said that he had shut himself off from the outside world for nearly five months.

``It was pretty ugly making this thing,'' he said with a laugh. ``But it wasn't as horrible as it's all made out to be.''

Cantrell wrote all of the songs that appear on ``Degradation Trip'' at his home in Snohomish, Wash. His house sits at the foot of the Cascade Mountains, which feed the trout- and bass-rich stream that runs through his property.

It was there, Cantrell said, that he purged his demons, which he sums up simply as life.

``I don't really know how to explain what I went through,'' Cantrell said. ``I've never written with this intensity, ever. I don't know what triggered it. I just know I recognized it, so I just stuck with it till it was done.''

Tracks such as the first single ``Anger Rising,'' ``She Was My Girl'' (also on the ``Spider-Man'' soundtrack) and ``Gone'' were just a few of the songs written during this creative spurt.

Roadrunner, which signed Cantrell to its label earlier this year, has plans to release the rest of the material sometime in the future. But right now, Cantrell said that he's focusing only on ``Degradation Trip.''

``It's a great record,'' Cantrell said. ``It's one of my best, I think.''

In March, while Cantrell was promoting his new album, he told MTV that he had plans of regrouping with Alice in Chains.

``I never say die, man,'' Cantrell told MTV, adding ``we're all still around, so it's possible we could all do something someday, and I fully hope someday we will.''

He said that Staley's death has now changed those plans for good.

``Not only am I saying goodbye to my best friend and my partner,'' Cantrell said, ``I'm saying goodbye to my band, too, and trying to move on from that because Alice is no more. And it won't ever be again.''

JERRY CANTRELL WITH HEADLINER NICKELBACK

Where: Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood.

When: 6:30 tonight.

Tickets: $24. Call [phone] or ticketmaster.com.

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Jerry Cantrell, center, formerly of Alice in Chains, and new bandmates Robert Trujillo, left, and Mike Bordin, will perform at the Palladium tonight.